A Closer Look at Bald Eagles: teacher key

Bald Eagles, grade 12 edition, written for 12th grade and up. How bald eagles see, hunt, gather in winter, nest and raise their young. How shooting and DDT brought them close to disappearing, and how protection and counts show their return.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. Why do scientists think eagles gather in winter roosts?
   • To build nests together
   • To socialize or to learn where prey is and how much there is (answer)
   • To hide from the sun
2. What does the IUCN Red List rate bald eagles as of November 2026?
   • Least Concern (answer)
   • Extinct
   • Critically Endangered
3. Why did DDT put bald eagles at great risk?
   • It made fish swim faster
   • It blocked their nests
   • It dissolves in fat and builds up as it passes up the food chain (answer)
4. How does a bald eagle take fish?
   • It dives deep under the water
   • It takes fish from near the surface and does not dive under the water (answer)
   • It waits on the river bottom
5. Where do many bald eagles gather in winter?
   • Far from any water
   • On open prairie
   • Near rivers where salmon come to spawn (answer)
6. When did the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announce the bald eagle's removal from the endangered and threatened list?
   • July 1995
   • On June 28, 2007 (answer)
   • 1978

Words

• roosts: resting places
• carrion: dead animals
• contiguous: touching, joined
• spawn: lay eggs
• reintroduction: bringing back