Eagle or hawk?

Birds of prey are often difficult to distinguish from one another. Red-tailed hawks are probably the most commonly seen hawk in Southeast Missouri. They regularly sit on road signs and high line poles. They tend to frequent grassy roadsides, where they search for mice.

The larger bald eagle has become more and more common in Southeast Missouri since the mid 1990s. Many people think that all bald eagles have white heads, but that is only partially true. A juvenile bald eagle will have a head like the one I have photographed here.

The juvenile bald eagle has a dark beak, brown feathers on its head, and its eyes are duller yellow than an adult bald eagle's eyes. From year to year, the feathers on the juvenile's head will become progressively more white until at age 4 or 5, it's head will be fully white, and its beak will become yellow.

Bald eagles make large nests in mature trees that are usually more than 70 feet tall and out in the open.