As the Philadelphia Eagles gear up for the 2025 Super Bowl, America's national bird, the bald eagle, is also having a moment.

A 27-year-old bald eagle named Lincoln has become a fan favorite at Philadelphia Eagles home games. Although Lincoln lives at the American Eagle Foundation in Tennessee, football fans in the City of Brotherly Love have grown fond of the North American bird of prey, who was chosen as the team’s mascot in 2018.

Along the long road from American icon to endangered species and back again, the bald eagle — the national bird of the United States, often seen against a clear blue sky — is having a moment. The eagles find themselves in an environmental updraft of sorts since the early 2000's,