Bird of the week 2024 | Bald eagle

Bald eagle

The soaring bald eagle, our national bird, is an inspiring sight to most people. But Benjamin Franklin was a notable hater. He wrote that the “Bald eagle … is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly … [he] is too lazy to fish for himself.” Maybe so. They do sometimes harass ospreys to steal their fish. One reliable local place to find them is the Ocklawaha Prairie, where this one was photographed.