I have always been drawn to birds of prey and I have really been facinated by the Bald Eagle. Bald eagles sit at the top of the food chain with man being the eagle's only real concern. Once a common sight in much of the continent, the Bald Eagle was severely affected in the mid-20th century by a variety of factors, the main one being the thinning of egg shells attributed to use of the pesticide DDT. The Bald Eagle was declared an endangered species in the U.S. in 1967 and in 1972 the use of DDT was banned in the United States. With regulations in place and DDT banned, the eagle population rebounded. In July of 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the status of bald eagles in the lower 48 states to threatened. Bald Eagles were removed from the endangered species list in August 2007 because their populations recovered sufficiently. Bald and Golden eagles are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)and the Bald and Golden Eagle Act (Eagle Act )