Bald Eagle

The  adult bald eagle has a blackish-brown back and breast; it has a white head, neck, and tail; and yellow feet and bill. Juvenile bald eagles are a mixture of brown and white; with a black bill in young birds. The adult plumage develops when they're sexually mature, at about 4 or 5 years of age. The bald eagle is the only eagle confined to North America, and there are no other large black birds in North America with white heads and tails. The female bald eagle is 35 to 37 inches, slightly larger than the male, with a wingspan which varies from 79 to 90 inches. The male bald eagle has a body length from 30 to 34 inches, with a wingspan range of 72 to 85 inches. Bald eagles weigh from ten to fourteen pounds. Northern birds are significantly larger than their southern relatives.  Wild bald eagles may live as long as thirty years, but the average lifespan is probably about fifteen to twenty years. The bald eagle's diet consists of mostly fish, waterbirds  and turtles.

Habitats include quiet coastal areas, rivers or lakeshores with large tall trees. Man-made reservoirs have also provided excellent habitat. Eagles usually lay two eggs in December. Bald Eagles build large stick nests lined with soft materials such as grass, leaves, and spanish moss. Nests are used for several years by the same pair of eagles, with the birds adding materials each year. Nests are often very large, measuring 6 feet across and weighing hundreds of pounds. Young eagles can fly in 11 to 12 weeks, but the parents continue to feed them for 4 to 6 more weeks while they learn to hunt.