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Life

It’s Finally Official: The Bald Eagle is the National Bird!

A closeup of a bald eagleiStock

A signature from President Joe Biden confirmed something about the bald eagle that most assumed had been confirmed more than 200 years ago.

If I asked most people a week ago to name the national bird of the United States, we know the answer they would give. In fact, it’s hard to imagine most people answering anything other than the bald eagle. But before last week, that wrong answer would have earned them a buzzer!

If you thought the eagle was already the “national bird” of America, don’t feel bad. You’re in good company.

This page from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs made the same assumption most of us have:

The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782, when it was placed with outspread wings on the Great Seal of our country. It appears in many government institutions and on official documents, making it the most pictured bird in all of America. The eagle appears on the president’s flag, the mace of the House of Representatives, military insignia, and billions of one-dollar bills.

It goes on to add that the battle over the national emblem went on for six years. Congress, it says, finally chose the eagle in 1789.

And there it all began, with the fierce-looking bird of prey taking on the role of one of the best-known symbols of the United States. Except for that official part.

It was never “officially” official.

Fast forward 235 years

President Joe Biden signed dozens of new bills on Christmas Eve, including one that gives the eagle the very status the masses assumed it always had.

One man inspired the law. To call that man, Preston Cook, an eagle enthusiast might be one of the year’s greatest understatements. The Washington Post covered his quest to give the bald eagle the recognition it deserved.

His efforts led to the creation of the law that Biden signed.

The bald eagle can be both menacing and graceful at the same time. Here in Charleston, there’s a bald eagle at the South Carolina Aquarium. They’ve named it Liberty.

While you can’t touch it, of course, you can get close enough to make eye contact with it. When an eagle stares at you with those piercing eyes, you quickly feel glad you’re not a fish in the water that it’s about to swoop down and grab. Eyes don’t have eyebrows, but the shape of its eyes makes it look like it’s glaring.

I’d definitely like to stay on an eagle’s good side.

Maybe we’re all more on the eagle’s good side now that we as a nation have given it the respect most of us thought it already had.

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.
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