Although the bald eagle is an opportunistic carnivore with the capacity to consume a great variety of prey, it subsists mainly on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons.

The largest known bird's nest was built by a pair of bald eagles near St Petersburg, Florida, USA and measured 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) wide and 6 m (20 ft) deep. It was examined in 1963 and was estimated to weigh more than 2 tons (4,409 lb).

The bald eagle is a powerful flier, and soars on thermal convection currents. It reaches speeds of 56-70 km/h (35-43 mph) when gliding and flapping, and about 48 km/h (30 mph) while carrying fish. Its dive speed is between 120-160 km/h (75-99 mph), though it seldom dives vertically.

Eagles use both monocular and binocular vision, meaning they can use their eyes independently or together depending on what they are looking at. A bald eagle can see something the size of a rabbit at more than three miles away.

Healthy adult bald eagles are not preyed on in the wild and are thus considered apex predators.

The bald eagle's natural range covers most of North America, including most of Canada, all of the continental United States, and northern Mexico.

The founders of the United States were fond of comparing their new republic with the Roman Republic, in which eagle imagery was prominent. On June 20, 1782, the Continental Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States depicting a bald eagle grasping 13 arrows and an olive branch with thirteen leaves, with its talons.

The Choctaw considered the Bald Eagle, who has direct contact with the upper world of the sun, as a symbol of peace. They were revered as carriers of spiritual messages between humans and the gods.

The Pawnee believed eagles to be a symbol of fertility because they build large nests high off the ground and valiantly protect their young.

The oldest known bald eagle was at least 38 years old. It was hit and killed by a car in New York in 2015. It had been banded in New York state in 1977.