Joe Biden signed legislation officially designating the bald eagle as the national bird of the United States.

The bill, passed unanimously by Congress, amends Title 36 of the United States Code to recognize the bird as a national symbol.

Fox News reports:

The bald eagle, which has been featured on the Great Seal of the United States since 1782 and has its own holiday and protection act, was never technically assigned the title of “national bird.”

It was, however, designated as the national emblem by the U.S. Congress in 1782, according to USA.gov. In addition to its appearance on the Great Seal, it is featured on official documents, the presidential flag, military insignia, and currency.

A document previously published by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to VA.gov improperly noted the bird as the national bird.

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“Thank you to Senators Klobuchar, Lummis, Mullin and Smith, and Representatives Finstad, Craig and Emmer for their leadership,” the White House wrote in a statement Tuesday announcing the signing of the bill.

Per Newsweek:

Benjamin Franklin had clashed with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson over which bird should be included on the Great Seal, telling his daughter at the time that bald eagles were “a bird of bad moral character.”

The powerful bird of prey was eventually added to the Great Seal but did not become America’s official bird until Christmas Eve. Unlike most countries around the world, the United States has never had a national bird in its 248 years of existence.

In addition to the law designating the bald eagle as America’s official national bird, Biden signed dozens of other bills into law on Tuesday, according to CBS News.

Indigenous to North America, bald eagles once teetered on the brink of extinction due to a combination of habitat loss, pesticides and hunting.

Their numbers dropped to the triple digits in the mid-1900s, spurring declaration of the Bald Eagle Protection Act. The bird’s population has since increased to an estimated 316,700, including 71,467 breeding pairs, according to data from 2018 to 2019.

 

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