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Bald Eagles
By Eaglehawk | November 10, 2007
First I want to say thank you to the fine folks over at that’s my answer! for selecting me to be Blog of the Day. It is quite an honor, I submitted a question for that’s my answer. My question was Which was the better choice for our/your national bird, Bald Eagle or Turkey?
My answer is simply The Bald Eagle, but then again I am biased. Though like many I tend to wonder if we should change it, but that is a post for a different day.
For those that don’t know the history behind the choice.
In 1784, after the end of the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Franklin wrote a famous letter from Paris to his daughter, criticizing the choice and suggesting the Wild Turkey as a better representative of American qualities. He described the Bald Eagle as “a Bird of bad moral character,” who, “too lazy to fish for himself” survived by robbing the Osprey of its catch. He also called the Bald Eagle “a rank Coward” who was easily driven from a perch by the much smaller kingbird. In the letter, Franklin wrote that he favored the Turkey, “a much more respectable Bird,” which he described as “a little vain & silly but a Bird of Courage.” (source)
The history behind my nickname is 2 fold. First I earned my eagle scout rank in 1998, to which my friends started calling me Eagle. Then in 2002 or so a customer of mine called me abusehawk because of the work I do. Thus I considered combining them, but my wife beat me to it, she told someone to call me that and it has stuck.
Categories: Eagle
Technorati Tags: Eagle, Turkey, USA
