In this way, the bald eagle served as a warning sign for the environmental damage being done by DDT, allowing a ban on the chemical to be put in place and eagle populations to recover along with the environment.
For example, declining populations of bald eagles in North America allowed scientists to discover that the environment had been contaminated with DDT, a pesticide used to control mosquitoes and other insects. In this way, the bald eagle served as a warning sign for the environmental damage being done by DDT, allowing a ban on the chemical to be put in place and eagle populations to recover along with the environment.