Quote:
Originally Posted by TNtransplant08
How do you tell the difference between a golden eagle and an immature bald eagle? Just curious.
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Here is from an older thread on this:
This was taken on the Caney by catchingtrout and the response below is by bd.
There is only one way I know of to tell, and it's not easy.
If you see the eagle with its leg extended, you can look at the feathering on the lower leg.
A juvenile bald eagle will have bare skin for a few inches up from the foot - basically a bare "ankle."
A golden eagle's leg, on the other hand, will be feathered all the way to the base of the toes.
This is tough because when eagles perch, they often do so with their body huddled over their feet so you can't see the "ankle" area. For instance, on the photo of the juvenile bald eagle I posted up above, the eagle's body feathers block the view of the lower leg.
On the other hand, you can see that Catchingtrout's picture is definitely a pair of juvenile bald eagles because the one on the right has his leg extended, and you can see that the dark brown feathers stop a couple inches above the foot.
I did some reading to see how long a juvenile bald eagle keeps the brown plumage, and I found that sometimes they don't gain the full adult black-and-white plumage until they're 4 or 5 years old. Therefore, with the nesting pair of adult bald eagles on the Caney producing one or two young eagles a year, and the rarity of goldens in this part of the country, I'd think the assumption weighs heavily that any dark brown eagle in that area is more likely to be a juvenile bald eagle rather than a golden.
Like I said, it's possible that a golden might show up in the area, but it wouldn't be common.
Caney Fork 12-28-2012
