Bald Eagles - A Comeback Story

A stop on Oakland Zoo: Savanna to California Trail, a free self-guided tour.

Look for the white heads and yellow beaks of the bald eagles. When the trail opened, its eagles were rescued birds from a raptor center in Wisconsin, injured in ways that meant they could not survive on their own in the wild.

Bald eagles are a conservation success story. By the 1960s, hunting, habitat loss and the pesticide DDT, which made eggshells too thin to survive, had pushed them close to disappearing from the lower 48 states. After DDT was banned in 1972 and the birds were protected, they recovered so well that they were removed from the endangered species list in 2007. Today you can spot wild bald eagles around Bay Area reservoirs.

Eagles do not get their white heads until they are about four or five years old; young eagles are mottled brown.

Getting here: Leave the visitor center and follow the trail a short way to the bald eagle habitat.

Did you know?: A bald eagle nest can grow enormous over years of use, sometimes weighing more than a ton.

Photo op: Wait for an eagle to perch in profile against the trees; its hooked yellow beak shows best from the side.

For kids: Spread your arms wide. A bald eagle's wings can stretch about seven feet from tip to tip - maybe wider than you!

Nearby: Restrooms and the Landing Cafe are back at the visitor center.

Bald Eagles - A Comeback Story

Stops on this tour