Who Is That? How To Tell The Bald Eagle Parents Apart

Duke Farms - Who is it?

Both adults in the nest are unbanded. Viewers can no longer use bands as a way to distinguish between the male and female. Female bald eagles are the bigger of the two, but this pair are very close in size. Size is hard to use to identify who is in the nest when only 1 eagle is there. There are subtle differences to use.

The female has a pronounced brow or supraorbital ridge. When looking straight on at the cam with her head in a certain position, you don’t see her eyes. His is not as large, and more of his eyes are visible.

Female Male

She has very light gray feathers between her bill and eye. The line circling her eye is not as heavy and black as the male’s. He has a heavy black line circling his eye.

Female Male

The cere is the yellow, fleshy part of the beak where it meets the head feathers. Hers appears to come to a point at the center. His is more rounded. The pronounced supraorbital ridge hides most of her eyes. His eyes are more visible. 

Female Male

When seen together, his head appears thinner and more sleek. The triangular shape of his head is smaller than hers. 

Watching for the exchange on the nest is most helpful, and allows viewers to watch for behaviors. The cam’s rewind feature comes in handy for finding the latest exchange. Cam angles, wind, and wet feathers from the weather can make identification even harder. The differences shown here are still slight, and telling these two adults apart is tricky.