My youngest grandson just turned 13, yes, a teenager. That means he has entered the third segment of his life, having passed through infancy, pre-teen, and is now a teenager, the last portion of his life before reaching adulthood, which will last the rest of his lifetime, and hopefully for many years.
Each of these first three segments lasts for only a few years, during which time parents watch growth and change almost daily. Infants are completely reliant upon their parents but also start learning how to walk, communicate, and develop all the rudimentary skills they will need to cope with the world. As pre-teens the first elements of social interaction begin to creep into their lives, and as teenagers those social developments become all important, and they thank heaven for mobile phones which make it so much easier. As we all know, adult life can take a variety of twists and turns and may lead in almost any direction.
Bald Eagles (top) go through similar four lifetime segments, but the first three are compressed into one year each. In year one, Bald Eagles are almost completely dark: body, bill and eyes, except for some light mottling under the wings. (left, no larger version) In the nest, even on a rainy day when they are water soaked, they try their wings. (photo 3, below) In year two, the Bald Eagle “pre-teen year,” they become quite white on the underside, but still have the all-dark bill, eyes, and head of youth. (photo 4, below)
At three years of age, Bald Eagles begin to develop a more adult appearance, losing some of the white on their underside, while gaining some adult brown in the wings, and a small amount of white on top of the head giving them a dark stripe look through the eye, which along with the bill begins to develop some yellow. (photo 5) At this age “teen age” Bald Eagles begin interacting with their kin and test their flying skills. (photo 6) After reaching adulthood, Bald Eagles can live in the wild for 35 to 40 years. In their fourth year, Bald Eagles have developed the all-white head and tail we are so familiar with, as well as the completely yellow bill and eyes. (top) It has become the fitting and familiar national symbol that we all know and love.
As I write this column in social self-distancing, isolating, and protective quarantine on our farm in Pennsylvania I have, like many of you, become familiar with a relatively new technology called “Zoom.” On a recent Zoom session held by the Nature Conservancy, the program featured Dan Brauning, an old friend of mine, who is now the Wildlife Diversity Section Chief of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, spoke about Bald Eagles in Pennsylvania. During his program he explained that Bald Eagles take five years to reach adult maturity. He explained further that an observer can see the difference as the fourth year Bald Eagle still has a gray smudge behind the eyes and on the forehead which disappears in the Eagle’s fifth year. This was new information to me and I was not able to find it confirmed in any of the popular bird books, but my falconer friends (and further research) confirmed it and assured me this was accurate and has been common knowledge for years. Lo and behold, I found in my archives a photo of a fourth year “adult” Bald Eagle with the tell-tale gray smudge on the forehead and a remnant dark spot behind the eye. (above, right) In birding, as in life, there is always more to learn, even during a pandemic.
I am also sad to report that the photo of the baby Eagle testing its wings in the rain in its nest was taken in February 2019. When we returned to check out the nest in February 2020 the nest was completely gone from the tree and the property was now for sale. I have no idea what may have happened but can only wonder whether the property owner was concerned about the ability to sell land occupied by nesting Eagles which could possibly impact the use of the property and its potential sale. Whatever happened to the nest, storm or otherwise, it was a very clean and complete removal, with no remaining evidence that it had ever been there. Can you imagine your home suddenly disappearing?
We humans love to anthropomorphize animals and birds and bring them into our human frame of reference. Thus, equating Bald Eagles 30- to 40-year life span to human’s 70- to 90- -- or more -- year life span, and compressing the eagle’s formative years into only one year for each segment is a natural. Our daughter, now dealing with two teenagers, all at home social distancing, would probably vote for a one-year teenage segment like the eagles. But each of those early stages, viewed in retrospect many years later, will seem like they only lasted a relatively short time. Maybe in a few years, this endless social separating and self-isolating will seem like it was really only a short period of time too. But right now, while we are enduring through, it certainly feels like it has been going on forever. Okay, everyone, enough of this philosophizing, it’s time to get back to our jigsaw puzzles, television, book reading and searching on-line for toilet paper.
For more on Bald Eagles, see: journeynorth.org/tm/eagle/facts_life_cycle.html. For more on the age progression of Bald Eagles, with much better photos than mine, see: www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/2011/02/16/bald-eagles-one-to-five-years-old/.
