Juvenile Bald Eagle at Fresh Pond

[Barbara J. Goodchild]

There was a juvenile Bald Eagle at Fresh Pond yesterday looking through the ice at the fish (I was imagining). See iPhone photo attached. He looks to be about four years old? 

[PAUL ROBERTS]

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for the eagle photo from Fresh Pond, and good to hear from you again. The bird looks like a juvenile, which a young eagle can be called until it is approximately one year old. (Might also be a dark one-year-old.) It is possible to accurately age young eagles (until they are at least two, often three) when you see the status of their interrupted molt in their secondaries in flight. When they are perched it is almost impossible to age them accurately. The color of their soft parts and their overall plumage vary greatly; they are helpful but not reliable indicators of age. Some eagles (mostly some southern) can achieve full adult plumage by three years of age, but most eagles take 4 to 5.5 years to achieve full adult plumage. A few retain some limited variable smudging in the "refrigerator white" portions of their body long after they achieve adulthood.

    If this bird were 4 or approaching 4, typically the head and tail would be largely "refrigerator white" with variable smudging and the torso dark brown (looking blackish) with "salt and pepper" scattered anywhere, especially on the torso and underwings. The beak and eyes would be largely or completely yellow.

 

Best,

Paul 

     

Paul M. Roberts
Medford, MA 
phaw...@comcast.net

[Barbara J. Goodchild]

Hello, Paul,

Thanks so much for your opinion. I was hoping you would see my post. I attended a lecture you gave on bald eagles with Arlington Birds at the Fox Library a few years back. Most people aren't aware of how long it takes for a bald eagle to get the white head.

It would have helped if I had my binoculars with me, so I will take them today if I go to Fresh Pond. Someone told me that they saw an adult and immature bald eagle flying over the Pond two days ago.

Best,

Barbara

[Steven Simpson]

Y’all:

Hand to God, I was in traffic yesterday at about 7:45 a.m. and saw a large bird flying toward Trader Joes from the direction of Fresh Pond with that lazy, floppy wingbeat of an eagle. I said to my wife, “That looks like a bald eagle, but it’s very dark. Probably a immature.” Pretty good sighting from the rotary! IMHO.

Steven Simpson

(Arlington)

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