Countdown To Spring - Day Five

By Kimberly J Epp

Today's Spring bird is the Bald Eagle.

The Bald Eagle is Canada's largest bird of prey. During the nonbreeding season, eagles gather in huge communal roosts. As the eagles return to their nesting sites, they perform 'nuptial flights' in the air. These birds of prey mate for life unless one of them passes away.

Bald Eagles nest in the top branches of tall trees or on cliffs by large bodies of water. Their nests are made of large sticks, and lined with grass, moss and twigs. They lay one to three bluish-white eggs, and both parents incubate them for 34 to 36 days. The eaglets leave the nest at about 12 weeks of age. The feathers on their heads won't turn white until they are about four or five years old.

Bald Eagles have returned to their nesting areas. RM of White Valley (photo by Boyd Coburn)

These nesting areas are returned to year after year, and every year the nest gets bigger. The same nest may be used for up to 35 years. The largest eagle nest was built by a pair of Bald Eagles, and likely also their successors, in St. Petersburg, Florida. This nest measured 2.9 metres wide and 6 metres deep. It was examined in 1963 and was estimated to weigh more than two tonnes.