Eagle Identification

It is difficult to mistake an adult Bald Eagle for any other bird, because of its distinctive white head and tail and its immense six to eight-foot wingspan. But immature Bald Eagles are not so easy to distinguish because they don’t acquire the snow-white head and tail feathers until they’re four to five years old. Immature Bald Eagles have varying amounts of white mottling all over, often with distinct white patches in their wing linings. First-year birds tend to be quite dark. The amount of white in their coloring increases each year until they become the gorgeous birds we’re all familiar with.