A bald eagle's body is about 28 to 38 inches long, and female bald eagles are about 25 percent larger than males. A big female can weigh as much as 14 pounds, or about 6.5 kilograms, and her wings can spread up to 8 feet, or 2.4 meters, across. The hind talon of a large female is almost 2 inches long, and about an inch and a quarter on a small male, so biologists use it to tell the sexes apart.
An eagle grabs its prey with the sharp talons on its toes. A bald eagle's grip is about 10 times as strong as a person's, and it can carry prey up to about half its own body weight. The tendons and tendon sheaths in an eagle's legs ratchet its toes shut, so it can hold on for a long time without tiring the muscles.
An eagle sees at least four times better than a person, but its eyes cannot move from side to side, so it turns its whole head to look around.
A hungry bald eagle waits on a favorite perch until it sees a fish near the surface of the water, and it is reported to dive at speeds up to about 100 miles per hour. Fish is its favorite food, and it takes fish from near the surface and does not dive under the water. It also eats ducks and small animals such as rabbits.
Nesting starts at different times in different places: September in Florida, February in Ohio and January in Alaska. The nest is made of large sticks. Tree nests are most often 1.5 to 2 meters across and 0.7 to 1.2 meters tall, and a pair sometimes finishes one in 4 days, though it can take 3 months.
A pair of bald eagles comes back to the same nest year after year and adds more sticks, twigs and grass, and some nests weigh as much as a ton. As of November 2026, the largest recorded bald eagle nest, found in Florida, was 20 feet deep.
A pair most often lays two eggs, and sometimes one or three. Eagles lay eggs about 36 hours apart, which raises the chance that at least one egg hatches when conditions are best. Both parents take turns keeping the eggs warm, and mothers sit on the eggs about 3 to 7 times more often than fathers do.
The eggs hatch after about 35 days. A newborn bald eagle weighs about 60 grams and may gain up to 180 grams a day, and the eaglets are light gray when they hatch and turn brown later. The nestlings are fed 4 to 5 times a day, and are kept covered nearly all the time for about 4 weeks.
Young eagles stay in the nest for 10 to 12 weeks. A Florida study found that a year after leaving the nest, 89 percent of young eagles in rural places and 65 to 72 percent in suburbs were alive. As of November 2026, recent studies show that about 70 percent of eaglets survive their first year.
Young bald eagles are mostly brown, and they get a white head and tail when they are about four or five years old. Bald eagles usually first breed at about 5 to 6 years old, and adults may skip laying eggs in some years. As of November 2026, a bald eagle can live up to about 30 years in the wild.
Words to know
- tendons: strong cords
- nestlings: baby birds
- biologists: nature scientists
- perch: a high seat
- suburbs: towns near cities
