0's Fotothing

wauw! so close!

just a youngster

Short answer: My wife told me, and she studies those books like Sibley's a lot. :-)

Most raptors are only ageable as juvenile (immature) and adult (mature); during/after the first molt, they are adults. But the bald eagle has four different distinct ages. The fourth and subsequent years are considered adult, with the distinctive white head, brown body, white tail you see accompanying jingoistic nonsense all over the USA (through no fault of the eagle's of course). The first-year birds are almost all brown when perched like this, with white "shoulder," "wrist," and inner-tail feathers, as seen from below. Second-year birds have more white mottling on breast and back. Third-year birds start to get a whiter head and less white on the body. This one is almost adult, but still has a bit of a "messy" look around the head...