What they look like: The Bald Eagle is a very large raptor with a dark brown body and wings and a white head and tail. Bald Eagles winter on the coastlines and across mainland United States. What does a Bald Eagle look like? By now the bill is a solid yellow and does not show the dark tip at all of the younger stages. The Bald Eagle is most commonly found in areas of North America (indeed, the bird is the national symbol of the United States of America). After all, when you begin to include all the possible plumages, you find that bald eagles may show dark heads with dark bellies, white heads with dark bellies, or dark heads with white bellies. Look … Royce Whiteaker 12-Jan-2009 18:56: Thanks for your hard work in providing information and photos of Juvenile Bald Eagles. How to Identify Bald Eagles, Young and Old. already exists. 3 large areas of white on the lower breast and belly. It typically takes five years for a bald eagle to attain full adult plumage. Its legs and feet are bright yellow, as is its large, hooked bill. That is their main distinguishing characteristic. By now the bill is a solid yellow and does not show the dark tip at all of the younger stages. Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)Species Code: HALE. Eagles are big. This is a picture of a Bald Eagle. The range of the bald eagle extends from Florida and Baja, California, to Alaska and Newfoundland, with favorite breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada and along the Mississippi River, Great Lakes and East Coast. Answer (1 of 2): The Bald Eagle has a very unique appearance, and very few other species of bird resemble it. Despite their name, bald eagles are actually not bald at all. When an eagle appears, you are on notice to be courageous and stretch your limits. American Bald Eagle Information - Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), our national bird,is the only eagle unique to North America. Photo: Bernard DUPONT / Flickr. More Animal Symbolism Eagle Symbolism Fly Like the Eagle. SAVE CANCEL. Golden Eagle beaks, while large, are more proportional, making the bird’s overall head profile appear shorter, more like a buteo hawk’s. This variability is seen in individual flight feathers, making immature bald eagle … These are common in North America. Identification of Eagle Feathers and Feet p. 3 of 15 Identification Guides for Wildlife Law Enforcement No. The four year old bald eagle above looks more like an adult, the head is nearly white with some paler brown feathers intermingling with the white. If the birds are standing up, you may also note that the legs of the Golden Eagle are feathered to the foot; the Bald Eagle has unfeathered, yellow ankles. The bald eagle's scientific name signifies a sea (halo) eagle (aeetos) with a white (leukos) head. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Águila blanca - en Español. These regal birds aren’t really bald, but their white-feathered heads gleam in contrast to their chocolate-brown body and wings. Bald Eagle Nesting & Young There are an estimated 7,066 nesting pairs of bald eagles, due to the efforts of federal agencies, tribes, state and local governments, conservation groups, universities, corporations, and thousands of individuals. Would you like to merge this question into it? Females are usually a third of the size larger than males. Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico.