Three's Company

A bald eagle swoops in to join two of its friends atop a sand dune in Canada’s Prince Edward Island National Park. When most people think of a bald eagle, they picture a classic bright white head and tail with a dark brown body, which is the bald eagle’s adult plumage. It typically takes about five years for a bald eagle to reach this state, though, and as bald eagles mature, they incrementally morph from having all brown feathers to their more regal adult state. One of the reasons I find this photo so interesting is that it captures several of the stages of bald eagle maturation. The bird in the center is the youngest of the three and has a completely brown head with blotchy brown and white feathers. I like to refer to this stage as the “dirty bird” stage of an eagle’s maturation. The bird that’s in flight is closer to adulthood, but some white feathers can still be found on its chest, indicating that it's still a year or two away from full maturity. The bald eagle all the way to the right is the closest out of the three pictured here to adulthood, with a fully white tail and dark brown body, with just a hint of brown remaining on its head to indicate that it has just a bit more growth to go before it reaches adulthood. Photo © copyright by Joey Priola.

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