American Bald Eagle

When I first moved to Clearwater Lodge 5 years ago, I had never seen an American Bald Eagle other than in picture books and in my history books. It is been wonderful to see so many of them in the Northwoods. Bald Eagles and moose I never get tired of seeing. This picture of an eagle in flight was taken by the Abbott family this summer and sent to us.

The American Bald Eagle has up to a 7 foot wingspan. Both adult male and female have pure white heads and tail contrasted with dark brown to black body and wings. They have a large curved yellow bill and feet. The female is slightly larger than the male. Juveniles are dark brown with white spots or speckles throughout the body and wings with a gray bill. Juveniles attain the white head and tail at about 4 to 5 years old.

Per my Birds of Minnesota field guide by Stan Tekiela, this bird made a comback in MN with one of the largest breeding populations in the lower 48 states. It returns to the same nest each year, adding more sticks, enlarging the nest to massive proportions up to 1,000 lbs.