NATURE: American Eagle

Credit: Courtesy of James Donald, ©EBC

Unique to North America, the bald eagle is the continent's most recognizable aerial predator.

In the 1960s, this symbol of the United States became an emblem of environmental degradation, as the pesticide DDT and other human pressures brought it to the brink of extinction. Following their protection as an endangered species, bald eagles have come roaring back, but, even in the best of times, it's a surprisingly tough struggle to maintain a one-ton home and raise chicks until they can hunt on their own. This is an intimate portrait of these majestic raptors' lives in the wild. NATURE: American Eagle airs Wednesday, July 3, 2013 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV.