Bald eagle question: How can you tell Mom from Dad?

[AngryOldDem]

I'm starting to get into this feed, as is my 10-year-old son, and I honestly can't tell the difference as to who is babysitting.

[TorchTheWitch]

1. Been wondering that myself

They look exactly the same to me.

[nolabear]

2. You can't, at least not in general. It takes some examination for eagles.

There might be a bit of a size difference but that's not a given.

They are pretty damned amazing, wren't they?

[sarge43]

3. According to the streaming site's FAQ it's not easy.

Both have to be together in the nest to tell. The female is larger than the male. Her eye ridges extends further back and she has grayish feathers around the eyes.

[Quiet_Dem_Mom]

4. When the eagle spits on its wing feathers and pats down any stray feathers on junior's head...

that's the Mom eagle.

:hide:

:)

[sarge43]

6. She has a closet full of shoes and he hogs the remote. n/t

[Autumn Colors]

5. If you're looking at the site right now....

(8:05 PM Eastern Time)... that's mom babysitting now.

Like someone else said, she has a ridge over her eyes that goes way back. The dad's ridge over his eye pretty much ends where his eyes do. Also, the father has a thick, black border around his eyes (someone in the social stream said it's his "Capt. Jack Sparrow" eye makeup). When you see their heads from straight on, the top of mom's head looks rounder and dad's looks flatter to me.

When the temperature starts to get warmer there again, the dad HATES the flies and he's always darting at them. They don't seem to bother mom at all. Mom tends to show up with grass, sod, and sticks to build up the nest.

[AngryOldDem]

9. I'm watching now...9:40 EDT...

...and it looks like the kids are fast asleep, with mom or dad keeping watch.

I was looking at them this morning and one of them was doing some pretty major housecleaning -- picking up big chunks of grass and stuff and moving them over to the side of the nest.

It is so neat seeing birds so fierce-looking as Bald Eagles taking such good and gentle care of their babies, and sharing that care with each other. Nature sure is something.

[P. Galore]

7. Someone please re-post the link. nt

[amerikat]

8. K

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

[woo me with science]

10. Here are close-up videos of Mom and Dad:

Close-up video of Mom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJEyqziPUCs


Close-up video of Dad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1tKYX3fNwA

[AngryOldDem]

11. Thanks!

[kath]

12. Someone (from the Raptor Resource Ctr, I think) put together a little tutorial video to help people

tell the difference between the two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lARYcL5A50

[Duer 157099]

13. Dad has an intense phobia about flies

Or else he just loves trying to catch them. I've never seen mom even notice the flies. But dad will ignore everything else to go after the flies.

Also, as mentioned upthread, mom has more dark feathers behind her eyes, whereas dad just has the grey in front of his eye. Mom's ridge above and behind the eye is very pronounced.

edit to add this photo I did awhile back:

[XemaSab]

14. The bird on top is dad

No, I'm not joking. :P