WASHINGTON — The bald eagle, a symbol of the power and strength of the United States for more than 240 years, earned an overdue honor Tuesday: It officially became the country's national bird.
President Joe Biden signed into law legislation sent to him by Congress that amends the United States Code to correct what had long gone unnoticed and designate the bald eagle — familiar to many because of its white head, yellow beak and brown body — as the national bird.
Uncle Sam, a 25-year-old bald eagle, sits on his perch in front of a U.S. flag Sept. 11, 2013, before the Extreme Raptors Show at the Permian Basin Fair in the Ector County Coliseum fairgrounds in Odessa, Texas.
The bald eagle has appeared on the Great Seal of the United States, which is used in official documents, since 1782, when the design was finalized. The seal is made up of the eagle, an olive branch, arrows, a flag-like shield, the motto "E Pluribus Unum" and a constellation of stars.
Congress that same year designated the bald eagle as the the national emblem, and its image appears in a host of places, ranging from documents and the presidential flag to military insignia and U.S. currency, according to USA.gov.
But it was never officially designated to be what many just assumed it was: the national bird.
The bald eagle is a native species of North America.
Photos: Bird lovers try to counter deadly risk of Chicago high-rises for migrating birds
An anesthetized yellow-bellied sapsucker, a kind of migrating woodpecker, is taped to a table as staff veterinarian Darcy Stephenson prepares to take x-rays at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Veterinarian Darcy Stephenson tapes an anesthetized yellow-bellied sapsucker, a kind of migrating woodpecker, as she prepares to take x-rays at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center on Oct. 4 in Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors Director Annette Prince holds an injured Nashville warbler, a kind of migrating songbird, that likely struck a glass window pane Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
An injured Nashville warbler, a kind of migrating songbird, sits on the ground after likely striking a glass window pane Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors Director Annette Prince collects a dead white-throated sparrow, a kind of migrating bird, in an alley Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors Director Annette Prince walks a downtown plaza searching for dead or injured birds who may have flown into glass windows Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Veterinarian Darcy Stephenson looks at an x-ray of a yellow-bellied sapsucker and determines it has a fractured ulna, the equivalent of a human forearm bone, Oct. 4 at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center.
Sarah Reich, head veterinarian at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, peaks inside a woodpecker box in the rehabilitation care facility Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Bird-safe window film on the McCormick Lakeside Center building meant to prevent birds from colliding with the glass, particularly during spring and fall migration seasons, can be seen Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
The McCormick Lakeside Center building, which has about two football fields' worth of glass windows, now has bird-safe window film meant to prevent birds from colliding with the glass, particularly during spring and fall migration seasons, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors Director Annette Prince writes details on a paper bag containing an injured Nashville warbler that likely struck a glass window pane Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Sarah Reich, head veterinarian at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, speaks about the types of migratory bird species she and her staff receive for rehabilitation care Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Rose Augustine, a wildlife program coordinator at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, measures a rehabilitated Ovenbird, a migrating songbird of the warbler family, for a leg band before it is released back into the wild Oct. 4 in Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Sarah Reich, head veterinarian at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, gives medication to an injured Ovenbird, a migrating songbird of the warbler family, at the wildlife center, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Veterinarian Darcy Stephenson holds a yellow-bellied sapsucker after taping its wing to help heal a fractured ulna Oct. 4 at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center in Glen Ellyn, Ill.
An injured yellow-shafted flicker, a kind of migratory woodpecker, rests inside a woodpecker box at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Wildlife Keeper Stephanie Scurtu looks to net songbirds inside a rehabilitation enclosure to determine if they are healthy enough for release at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Wildlife Keeper Stephanie Scurtu examines a wood thrush, a kind of migrating songbird, to determine if it is healthy enough for release at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
An injured Ovenbird, a migrating songbird of the warbler family, temporarily escapes during a medical examination at the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Glen Ellyn, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
