Date: 10/28/26 2:24 pm From: Nick Bolgiano <nickbolgiano...> Subject: Re: an interesting looking juvenile Golden Eagle
Golden and Bald eagles are about the same size. Golden Eagles have smaller
heads and longer tails. In a Bald Eagle, the head and tail are almost the
same length. Shape is the best way to distinguish the two at a distance.
A juvenile Golden Eagle has bright white at the base of the tail and
usually in wing patches. In this picture, you can also see the gold
feathers on the back of the neck and top of the head. A juvenile Bald Eagle
has white in the wingpits. A second or third year Bald usually has white on
the body, where a Golden doesn't have white.
On Wed, Oct 28, 2026 at 11:27 AM Lynn Sprott <
<0000cb09de78248d-dmarc-request...> wrote:
> I love this picture, Nick! As someone who is still a very inexpert birder,
> I would love it if someone could explain how you can tell a juvenile golden
> from a juvenile bald eagle? I'm pretty sure if I had seen this I would have
> just assumed it was a juvenile bald eagle. I really wish I had seen it--I
> was at Bald Eagle Monday but didn't see any eagles or the American bittern,
> sadly.
>
> Lynn Sprott
> Professor of Psychology
> Jefferson Community College
> Watertown, NY
> <lsprott...>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* State College (PA) Bird Club <SCBIRDCL...> on behalf
> of Nick Bolgiano <nickbolgiano...>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 27, 2026 9:16 PM
> *To:* <SCBIRDCL...> <SCBIRDCL...>
> *Subject:* an interesting looking juvenile Golden Eagle
>
> ⚠* External Warning:* Treat Links & Attachments with caution
> I took this picture on Monday at Bald Eagle Mt of a Golden Eagle that I
> judged to be a juvenile. I find the pattern of white to be interesting in
> that a few adjacent feathers had white, the white did not appear to be
> symmetric in the two wings, and there were small body feathers that were
> white.
>
> Typically, the white in the wings are in a number of adjacent feathers and
> symmetric in the two wings.
>
> Nick Bolgiano
>
