The bald eagle has (almost) landed as the national bird of the United States after the House on Monday cleared the bill to make the designation official.
All that remains is a signature from President Joe Biden, and the eagle will have the same status as the national mammal (the American bison), the national flower (the rose) and the national tree (the oak), each of which was elevated by federal legislation in the two-and-a-half centuries since the bald eagle became an unofficial symbol of the nation during the Second Continental Congress in 1782. That’s when the Great Seal of the United States, which displays the eagle front and center, was approved.
“It makes me feel like I’m levitating,” said Preston Cook, a lifelong collector of eagle memorabilia who discovered that Congress had never designated a national bird while he was writing a book about the bald eagle’s role in U.S. history.
