The bald eagle is an American icon, but this famous bird has had its struggles over the years. After going without for over a century, a bald eagle nest has been spotted for the first time in Cape Cod for over 100 years.

Soaring Population

Scientists rejoiced when they spotted the first bald eagle nest in Cape Cod in over a century. The last time this iconic bird was spotted roosting in Massachusetts was in 1905, but it seems, at last, they are back. According to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, there are approximately over 70 nests belonging to the bald eagle, a sign that the bird’s population is on the rise.

Almost Hunted To Extinction

At the turn of the 20th century, the bald eagle was almost hunted into extinction. Hunters and poachers severely threatened the bald eagle’s population, but they weren’t the only ones. In the 1950s and ‘60s, bald eagles suffered further losses to their numbers due to a loss of habitat and poisoning due to the pesticide DDT.

The bald eagle has made a miraculous recovery, however, and in 2007 they were removed from the Federal Endangered Species List. Then, in 2012, the bald eagle’s status was downgraded from a threatened species to one of special concern.

New Challenges

Now that these bald eagles are becoming more populous around Cape Cod, they face new challenges. The bald eagles will have to establish new territories among their own species, as well as fighting for space with ospreys and other eagles.

Bald eagles make their huge 12-foot by eight-foot nests in conifer or hardwood trees and return to that site year after year. The birds will pair up and continue nesting in the same spot for up to 40 years.

More and more people are now able to experience the thrill of seeing this American icon in the sky, thanks to its resurgence.

After the end of an interesting quarter in smartphone sales, Samsung has retaken its place as the leading smartphone company in the world. While Huawei moved back to second place, Xiaomi overtook Apple for the third spot, and Vivo established itself fifth.

The Switch of the Top Position Was Expected by Smartphone Market Experts

The way Samsung got back to the first place was not much of a surprise to people following the smartphone market. While Samsung captured nearly 23% market share, Huawei now represents around 15% of the share. This is a massive drop of 22% when compared to the situation last year. Experts point out that this can be majorly contributed to the U.S. trade ban, which does not allow American companies to work with Huawei.

Xiaomi managed to ship enough smartphones to take a bit more than 13% market share. This Chinese smartphone company continues to have a strong presence in both China and India, which propelled it to third place, going above the share of Apple for the first time.

Most Smartphone Companies Faced Many Challenges In 2020

In general, Apple had a very good quarter when it comes to everything but the iPhone. While it got just about 11% share, it is still significantly ahead of Vivo, which took about 8.9% of the market share. It could be said that given the nature of the market in 2020, it has been a tough quarter for all these companies. Both manufacturing and sales had to overcome many challenges in China, Europe, and the US. The iPhone 12 launch was postponed to October, and most other companies even launched their products in November.

Even though the results differ drastically from last year, the end of 2020 is actually a big recovery, especially for companies in key markets such as India. There, both Samsung and Xiaomi managed to mark good gains, and that shows in the numbers the companies reported. Reports also show that although so far, the consumer demand for 5G may be small, it will be an important driver for future growth.