Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Identifying a Bald Eagle: As seen from the above photo, the Bald Eagle has a distinctive white head and tail after the fourth to fifth year. When they are young, they are mottled brown in colour. First year bald eagles may have a mottled white belly. Sometimes young bald eagles are mistaken for Golden Eagles. The head size of a Bald Eagle appears to be around two-thirds of their tail length, but the head of a Golden Eagle is barely half as long as there tails. Eyesight: Bald Eagles have excellent eye sight, as do all raptors. Eagles have two fovea in each eye, two centres of focus on the retina. The "regular" one is for focusing on the horizontal level, while the other one is higher on the retina and concentrates its focus towards the ground. Eagles see and process four images at once. Two from each eye, one horizontally and one towards the ground. That explains why a perched bird sometimes turns its head completely upside down to look skyward. When they are in this position, the ground-image fovea is then looking skyward. Feet, Talons and Beak: Eagles talons are extra-large and grooved underneath. Their foot pads are rough, almost needle-like, for increased grasping ability which is vital when their prey is a large, slippery fish. The Bald Eagle has a very heavy beak, as the fishing eagles have some of the most powerful beaks among birds. Paired: Two adult birds sitting in close proximity of each other would strongly suggest that they are a pair. A pair of Bald Eagles will remain together for each nesting season as long as they live. They engage in various greetings and courtship flights. Their courtship flights are the most spectacular, consisting of locking talons in mid-air and descending for several hundred feet in a series of spiralling somersaults. They utilise feeding, day roost and night roost perches, and there is often dominance for their use. When they are hunting a raft or water birds, they will often fly back and forth over the group. This intimidates the members of the raft, often sending one or more into panic, which makes them an easy mark. Diet: Bald Eagles eat fish, mostly salmon (usually dead or dying), and small mammals such as rabbits, water fowl, seabirds and carrion. Distribution: Bald Eagles are found throughout the United States and Canada at certain times of the year. Year round populations are found along the west coast of Alaska and Canada, they are also found in parts of Washington, Colorado and Idaho. Length: 27 to 32 inches (68.6 to 81.3 centimetres), they become larger the farther north they are found. Wingspan: Male: around 6½ feet (1.98 meters). Female: around 7 feet (2.13 meters). Weight: Male: around 9 pounds (4 kilograms). Female: around 12.8 pounds (5.8 kilograms). Nesting: In trees. Eggs: They usually lay two eggs, but they can lay one to three eggs. Incubation: Both parents incubate the eggs. Incubation lasts 34 to 36 days. Learning to fly: Young Bald Eagles learn to fly in about 70 to 98 days. Scientifc Classification: The bald eagle is classified as: Haliaeetus leucocephalus. |
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