Bald Eagle Scanning the Area

I met another Bald Eagle last spring along the Raritan River. Was this fella the reason the Osprey I saw the same day was in flight, possibly looking for another place to fish? It's impossible to say; though both birds were in the same general area, I saw them over an hour apart, and it's possible they weren't even aware of 1 another.

I've seen Bald Eagles there before, sometimes with company. It's more than possible that the same adult eagle was in more than 1 of these pictures [1], and the Duke Farms Bald Eagles probably nest a short distance from these trees "as the crow flies" [2], so this might be their territory. But there are also a lot more eagle out and about than there used to be, and without much closer looks I doubt anyone could conclusively identify individuals.

Though most North America [3] is home to Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles are not considered close relatives of the Goldens. They are considered very close relatives of the White-tailed Eagle [4], with the 2 birds forming a superspecies [5]. White-tailed Eagles are largely a Eurasian bird, though Iceland and especially Greenland have populations that could interbreed with our Bald Eagles. Bald Eagles will also sometimes hybridize with another larger northeast Asian species, the Steller's Sea-eagle [6].

May 5, 2023 at Duke Island Park
Photo 282301607, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] The juvenile eagle couldn't have acquired full adult plumage since the picture I 1st took of it.

[2] Eagles probably wouldn't use "as the crow flies" to describe their flights. They probably think of crows as annoying little twerps.

[3] And Eurasia too; Golden Eagles are pretty widespread.

[4] They kind of look like Bald Eagles with light grayish-brown heads.

[5] Superspecies aren't known to have superpowers like superheroes or supervillains; it generally means that 2 species are closely related enough that it can be difficult to separate them (even for professionals).

[6] Given the differences in ranges, this presumably only happens when at least 1 of the eagles is very lost and outside its normal range.

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