I was excited to spot quite a few Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It was especially cool because the eagles that I observed were at different stages of development. Bald Eagles are mostly brown in color when they are born and it takes almost five years for them to mature and develop the white feathers on their head that we associate with Bald Eagles.
The eagle on the left in both of the photos is a really young one. I initially thought it might be a fledging that was born this year, but it seems too early for one to have already reached this stage of development. Perhaps this eagle is a year old, judging from its coloration and markings.
I thought that the other eagle was the same one in both photos, but the markings in the first photo show some dark feather on the head and some mottled coloration on the body that seems to me missing on the adult bald eagle in the second photo. I would guess that the “other” eagle in the first photo is about four years old.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I had no idea it takes that long for adult coloration to appear. Neat photos, showing the different stages.
Nice Mike! Always enjoy seeing your images!
That top one is surely raggedy looking!
It seems that birds often look kind of raggedy when they are in a transition phase. I see this kind of thing in some species when they are molting or moving from winter to spring plumage.
[…] and markings of the eagles change dramatically over time. Earlier this week I did a posting called Two eagles that showed two juvenile eagles perched in a tree. One of them was quite young and the other was […]
Excellent captures with the age comparison, Mike.