On June 28, 2007 the Interior Department took the American Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) off the Endangered Species List.
Bald Eagles were officially declared an endangered species in 1967 in all areas of the United States south of the 40th parallel. The Bald Eagle will still be protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
There is nothing special about this photo save the majestic look and the fact that it was not taken in a zoo or from a photo gallery on the internet. I made this photograph near Mount Vernon, Virginia about sunset on December 19, 2007. I am going to guess her gender is female and give her a pet name, "Big Bald". She posed just long enough to award me a big thrill and then she left, flying low over the Virginia-Maryland state line. Thanks, "Big Bald" and thanks to those who saw, some 50 years ago, that protecting her environment was no hollow idea.