I left off with the first part of the series primarily explaining how the effects of the pesticide DDT and the shooting of wild eagles had them on a path to extirpation in the lower 48 states. This second section of the series will focus on the rebound of this beautiful and majestic bird. I've decided to use several captures of immature eagles because they are such an intricate part of the rebound. I am also including the website of a photographer friend of mine who is a real master of photographing birds of prey. In his gallery you will find his documentation of a mating pair of bald eagles in Florida. He has captures of them making the nest, the first appearance of the babies, and even a sense of drama, when the nest containing the babies fell. Though scary, the story has a happy ending, and I would recommend looking at his gallery. On a funny note he decided to dub the parent eagles Edith and Archie, and the two babies of course in typical bunker fashion couldn't have been named anything other than Gloria and Meathead. He is currently documenting Archie and Edith as they are making a new nest for a new set of babies.
Stepping away from the issues that put the eagle in danger of disappearing from the lower 48 states in the middle to later decades of the 20th century, I'm now going to focus on some general information on this beautiful species. When one thinks of bald eagles, most of us think of the typical image that has become a national symbol of our wonderful nation. That means a stark white head and tail feathers. With the exception of the bird on the ground in the lower left hand corner which is an older juvenile who is beginning to show the white coming out in his head and tail feathers, young bald eagles can be easy to misidentify. I enjoy watching people, especially families with young children when the get their first opportunity to see eagles in the wild. I don't know how many times however, I've heard a father tell his son, daughter or wife to look at the beautiful golden eagles. When you are up close, even to young birds, it's easy to tell by the size that they are much larger then hawks. Missouri does indeed get a handful of golden eagles that make the trek from Western states, however these usually concentrate on the lock and dams on the Mississippi, as well as a handful that Winter over at the Lake of the Ozarks. Even though golden eagles are occasionally seen in Missouri, the Missouri Department of Conservation usually has less than 20 confirmed sightings, with the vast majority of calls being misidentified juvenile bald eagles.
It is usually somewhere between years 4 and 5 of a Young eagles life that they mature into the stark white head and tail feathers. The above photo is of a Young eagle, and it is easy to see the absence of the white on it's head and tail. Another thing not so noticeable is that mature bald eagles have bright yellow beaks and legs. Though you cannot see the eagles legs because it's tucked up under it's body, you can clearly see that while some yellow appears on this eagles beak, it isn't a bright solid shade. I always think of juvenile eagles as somewhat similar to the ugly duckling story. As you can see in all the able photos, young eagles have a molted coloring between shades of brown, black, and white. I describe them as looking similar to a dog with mange. Despite the fact at this stage in an eagles life, in my opinion beautiful is a stretch, though they certainly do grow into a majestic beauty. Another reason I enjoy photographing juvenile eagles, is that in many ways, they remind me a lot of adolescent children. Teenagers if you will. From a behavioral stand point, it's frowned upon to speak of animal behavior in human terms, however after countless hours of observing them, I find it hard not to. Like confused teens, it's common to see young eagles moving around in clicks, and in some cases you might even say gangs. You'll see eagles, even mature ones getting into squabbles, especially if food is involved, but this behavior seems even more prominent in groups of juvenile bald eagles.
I'll conclude tonight's post with a few interesting facts about the bald eagle. The top photo of the juvenile eagle flying to the ground is a photo I have entered into a couple photo contests before. There was actually 13 eagles in the immediate area, but I chose to focus on the one coming in for the landing. The very first comment I received on that capture was how the eagles looked like a pack of vultures. Though the lady didn't know it, she had made an observation that truly hit the nail on the head. Many people think of bald eagles along the lines of the true hunting raptor species such as falcons, owls, and hawks. Bald eagles are in fact a species of vulture. Though they do hunt, something I've had the privilege of getting on camera and will show at a later date, they are opportunist with no qualms about scavenging meals. In truth bald eagles have adapted to focus on the easiest method of finding food. For some, it's hard to imagine putting the eagle into the same category with birds such as the turkey vulture, but despite their majestic appearance, they are indeed a species with more in common with the every day vulture than with the birds who survive by hunting alone. Another interesting fact about bald eagles is that they mate for life. Many eagles migrate in the Winter months to warmer climates, especially in areas where water sources are likely to remain locked in ice for the majority of Winter. Some life long mates make this migration together, while others may migrate to completely different areas of the country, often in different states, only to meet back up with each, in Spring to begin the process of mating and ensuring future generations. Courtship between bald eagles is unique. They will fly several thousands of feet into the air, lock talons and begin a free fall tumble towards the ground. Occasionally this even results in death with the courting pair falling all the way to the ground below. I've had the opportunity to witness on several occasions, high altitude flying, and am always amazed at how a pair of bald eagles in flight often maneuver in ways similar to jet fighter planes in the way they seem to simultaneously bank sharp in one direction or another. The photo below is of two eagles making contact in flight. Do to the high altitude, I've had to crop the scene which has resulted in a low resolution image but for the purpose of this post will hopefully give the reader an idea of the ways these magnificent birds often make contact with one another.
As far as parenting and nest building goes, both the male and female partake in building the nest, which in and of itself is an amazing task. Bald eagles make the largest nests of any bird in the world. Each nest is built by countless trips bringing sticks back to the nests. Some of the lager nests weigh over two tons. Over 4,000 pounds of nest built stick by stick. In genereal the mother spends the most time incubating the nest and early care with the male hunting or scavenging food to bring back to the nest, though the female will signal to the make and it isn't uncommon for the female to hunt while the male watches over the yound chicks.
Both Parents stay with the chicks until they are ready to fly, usually around four months or so. And then a yearly cycle begins again. In the wild bald eagles usually live 30-35 years, though they can supass 50 in captivity. As mentioned earlier, to get a good example of the life of a mating pair of eagles and their chicks, a visit to Hal Bambrick's gallery is a real treat. The web address is:
http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=213365&mp=V2
Since I spend so much time pursuing eagles, I will be doing more future articles. I have yet to touch on how through the efforts of the St. Louis Zoo, The Missouri Department of Conservation and Diskerson Park Zoo in Spingfield along with others have helped to establish a healthy and always growing year round population of resident eagles. For Missouri this is important because young eagles have a tendency to stay close to the areas in which they were born, so as more and more chicks are reared, Missouris resident eagle population will continue to grow. But that I'll leave for a future article. For now, Happy Holidays and New Year, and for my fellow photographers happy shooting.
© Tommy Burgess
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