Adult: White hood! White tail! Visible at a distance! Large fierce-looking yellow bill. Yellow talons. In flight, head and tail project about equally beyond the broad wings. Wings held rigid and flat. Wingstroke slow and measured. (Remember, one must make a show of dignity if one is the national bird!)

Immature: In first and second year Bald Eagles, wing lining, secondaries and base of tail are lighter in color because white feathers are interspersed throughout. Immature may be five years old before adult plumage and coloration is complete. In flight, tail appears longer in proportion to the head.

Habitat: Florida’s Bald Eagle population is the largest in the lower 48 states although our human population growth is increasingly a threat as habitat is gobbled up and destroyed. Look for Bald Eagles where there are fish and space to manuever in the air. Search the tall pine trees for an eagle’s nest. It is at least as large as a bale of hay. From the nest tree or a nearby perch, the eagles will be on the lookout for a meal of fish, or an Osprey with an already-caught stealable fish. An unwary small mammal,.r coot or small egret will do.

Florida resident. Nesting January-June. If you happen upon on active nest, stand off a quarter-mile at minimum so as not to alarm the eagles, causing abandonment of nest and young.

Text by Mary Jean Rogers, West Volusia Audubon

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