Bald Eagle
· American Bald Eagle
· Bald Eagle Habitat
· Bald Eagle Food
· Bald Eagle Behaviour
· Bald Eagle Population
· Bald Eagle Facts

Bald Eagle Behaviour

The bald eagles behaviour does not differ from most other bird of prey in general. They mainly hunt, rest or breed during their life. Although these similarities the bald eagle is still different though, not in behaviour but in importance. The bald eagles behaviour was one of the reason to why Benjamin Franklin though it was an unfit animal for the national seal of United States. What he though was highly offensive was the thieving behaviour of the bald eagle because he though of it to be both lazy and immoral.

Bald Eagle Behaviour – Hunting

When hunting the bald eagle soars high above its hunting grounds searching for prey, either it’s a rabbit on the meadow or a fish in the lake. Once a prey is spotted the bald eagle swoops down into a very shallow glide so that it easily can pick up its prey with its powerful talons and then takes off into the sky. If the bald eagle for some reason gets under the water it actually will make it into the shore since it is a powerful swimmer. There is also a bad bald eagle behaviour where the bald eagle either steal the food from another predator or simply from the picnic blanket. While eating the bald eagle generally forms a tent out of its wings, thus covering its meal towards the eyes of other predators.

Bald Eagle Behaviour – Nesting

The bald eagles nest sure is an awesome sight simply because the sheer size of it. The thing is that the bald eagle does not build a new nest every time it needs one but will instead continuously add more and more building material to the original design. Since the bald eagle can become as old as 50 years the nest can end up covering an entire tree and weigh well above a small standard car. The largest bald eagle nest ever weighed just above two tons and took 34 years to complete. If no trees are available, such as in the desert, the bald eagle will build its nest on the ground. These will not become as large though because of the lack of the natural defence that a tree provides.

Bald Eagle Behaviour – Reproduction

The bald eagle is one out of just a few animals that are totally monogamous and will only find a new mate if the earlier one dies. The female bald eagle will generally lay one to three eggs in one year but due to many different reasons only one of the hatched younglings will survive. The male and female bald eagle takes turns sitting on the eggs while the other one is out searching for food or more building material for the nest. The young bald eagle will leave its parents once it is ready and will not return to the area until it is sexually matured, about four to five years later.

Bald Eagle Behaviour – Free time

One might think that the bald eagle would not get much free time having to hunt and breed all the time but the fact is that most of its time goes to sitting on a branch and cleaning its feathers. Bald eagles really enjoys taking it easy and would never miss a chance to simply sit around and watch what is happening around it or soar on the high winds for relaxation.