ML65006611
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Media notes
Immature Bald Eagle - appears to have a loosely defined tawny bar on the upper wing coverts (which initially suggested to me this was a Golden Eagle).
Observation details
My first impression of this eagle, which was perched in a tall Ponderosa Pine near the road, was that this was a Golden Eagle. I took lots of pictures of it, hoping that it would take flight so that I could see more field marks to confirm the ID ... unfortunately, it just sat there and ignored me. When I started analyzing my photos, however, I started seeing characteristics that were not good for a Golden Eagle, but were good for an immature Bald Eagle: the beak and cere were both uniform dark in color (the cere in a GOEA should be yellow at all ages); the iris color was light with a yellowish tint (would be dark to light brown in a GOEA); the tarsi were not covered by feathers all the way down to the toes; the white in the top side of the tail did not go all the way out to the edge of the tail, but rather had dark edges; the upper back had an upside down white triangle (seen in immature BAEA but not in GOEA). On the other hand, the crown and nape appeared to be a light tawny - golden brown and the upper wing coverts appeared tawny, forming a loosely defined bar ... these initially led me to suspect this was a Golden Eagle. Immature Bald Eagles, however, can also have tawny brown upper wing coverts that contrast with darker flight feathers. I still think the head color looks like a Golden Eagle, however. Reluctantly, I came to the conclusion this was an immature Bald Eagle (I really wanted it to be a Golden Eagle).
Technical information
- Model
- Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
- ISO
- 200
- Focal length
- 215 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/6.5
- Shutter speed
- 1/500 sec
- Dimensions
- 1945 pixels x 1480 pixels
- Original file size
- 1.78 MB