- Historic Sites Magnificent Monarch Of The Skies THE AMERICAN
BALD EAGLE December 1976 | Volume 28, Issue 1 Do we still want
him for our national bird? … If so, why do we treat him so
badly? There were probably more bald eagles in our skies in 1789
when they were chosen as the national bird than at any time
since. The Audubon Society now estimates that hunters, the
overrunning of nesting areas, and more recently, DDT have
reduced their total population to about two thousand (exclusive
of Alaska, where they are still relatively numerous). Benjamin
Franklin never approved of the eagle anyway. As a species he had
been the favorite of too many kings and conquerors, Franklin
felt, to make an appropriate American symbol, and in any case,
Franklin wrote: “He is a Bird of bad moral Character … and often
very lousy [in the literal sense, of course].” Franklin was
referring to the bald eagle’s habit of stealing fish from the
osprey, a more skillful fisherman. To be fair, it should be
noted that bald eagles have some r