Eagles Spare Tire Cover

Actually there are two groups of people that are looking for Eagle themed spare tire covers, one that are fans of the Eagles team and one that are fans of the Eagle as in bird of prey ;-) But still they have enough in common to combine both in one hub! In the end both types of tire covers  have an eagle motive on them! Lets first look at the sporty one ;-) The Philadelphia Eagles, founded 1933, are, as you well might know, a top American NFL Football team from, - surprise, surprise - Philadelphia. They are well known for having won the NFL (National Football League) championship several times and for being now worth, as a franchise, an excess of one billion US dollar! These number were stated by Forbes in 2006. They are also one of the few teams in the NFL history books that managed to win more than 100 games in less a decade under the very same trainer – Andy Reid! But back to their eagle motif ;-) That originates actually from the 50s featuring eagle wings prominently. The design was last updated in 1996, in the last century so to speak – just kidding Eagles ;-) We all know that Eagles fans are amongst the most loyal fans in the NFL. And if you know just an ardent Eagles fan, you might consider buying him - or her- a Eagles Spare Tire Cover for Christmas! Now, how was this for an elegant transition from one loosely related topic to the next? ;-)

Another Eagles story that really touched base with me – a non-American, I may add, is the story of Kim, the daughter of one of the Eagles players, whose story -happy ending included,- let to a continous fundraising effort by the team to raise money for children with cancer and their families. So far they have raised more than US$10 million! And since 1991 'Eagles Fly for Leukemia' is an independent non-profit.

After all this information about the human Eagles, what about adding some about the birds of prey and national birds of the good, old US? Here you go and to be precise, it is not the common eagle that is the national bird of the US – it is the bald eagle! Therefor it is only logical for me to concentrate on Bald Eagle themed spare tire covers in this hub! But first a bit of eagle background information:

The Bald Eagle is also called 'Haliaeetus leucocephalus', if that sounds posh to you, well it is, it is the bald eagle's scientific name in latin ;-) As mentioned before, it is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America and therefore makes for an ideal motif for a truly patriotic wheel cover. It is native to northern Mexico, the US, Canada and also to Alaska, their close relatives, the Eurasian White-tailed Eagles inhabit Europe and Asia. They are very closely related, having evolved differently after they immigrated westwards to the Americas and eastwards to Asia.

Back in the 20^th century, means only a few years ago, it was in danger of extension, but now, heavily protected, the bald eagle population in the USA has recovered nicely!

Oh, and just in case you wonder, a bald eagle is not suffering from sort of avian hair or feather loss, bald is an old, now obsolete, word for 'white'. Something that makes sense if you look at the photos. As a side note, in German we call them 'Weisskopf Seeadler', which translates to 'White Headed Sea Eagle'. And which corresponds also nicely to the scientific name that comes from Haliaeetus (latin for 'sea eagle', which derivates from the ancient Greek word 'haliaetos' and 'leuco-cephalus' which means 'white head' from 'leukos' for white and 'cephalos' for 'head'. I hope you are not feeling dizzy now, after this linguistic excursion!

Their plumage, as adult birds, is brown, with white ('bald') heads and tails. The young birds are brown, spotted with white dots all over. They get their final feather fashion when they are around four years old. Both, adults like young birds, have bright yellow beaks and feet. In all cases, they are rather large birds of prey with a wingspan between 168 cm / 66in and 244 cm / 96in and a weight that can reach up to 7 kg / 15 lb. And yes, like often in the avian empire, the females are larger than the males ;-) One interesting fact is also that their size varies by location, the more southern the bald eagle lives, the smaller it is, go figure!

As for diet and nutrition, the bald eagle believes in a seafood diet – it sees a fish and it eats it ;-) (Sorry, couldn't resist the old joke). They can also get quite old, up to 20 years on average in the wilderness and over 30 years in captivity, read in a zoo.

As said already, the bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America and it is also shown on the great seal of the United States, together with thirteen arrows and an olive branch with thirteen leaves. Thirteen were the founding states of the original United States of America. Now there are a few more ;-) Apart of the seal, the bald eagle also features prominently on US American coins, bank notes and stamps. In the end, it is THE American bird! And that goes further back then the arrival of the white men in what is called America today. Both the bald, as well as the golden eagle, are sacred to the native Americans since the dawn of time. For some of them the eagle was even a symbol for – peace. I guess we all wish that would still be the case!

So, coming to the end of this hub, I hope you have learned a bit more about this magnificent bird. And remember, no matter if for patriotic reasons or simply for being a bird lover, an Eagle Spare Tire Cover makes a great gift for nearly every American ;-) For not to say, a truly American wheel cover! And in case that this style of spare tire covers doesn't fir your bill, what about a nice mustang themed one? In the end, the mustang or bronco is as American as the eagle, both came from Europe!