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| A juvenile baldy caught in the act of some spring cleaning. |
In the spirit of "Who gets tired of seeing bald eagles?" Roy got a kick out of the fact that this young raptor let him get close enough that he could witness a pretty prolonged preening and capture it from the seat of his truck on one of the dikes on the west side of the property.
Preening is essentially a regular grooming ritual that birds must adhere to in order to keep features clean, aligned, and operating at full efficiency. It's somewhat akin to us brushing our teeth. But instead of toothpaste, birds rely on a waxy oil that is secreted from a "preen gland" at the base of the tail. Certain species may preen just once or twice per day, but particularly this time of year (when birds are trying to look their best), it is not uncommon to see others tidying up more-or-less constantly.
The marsh is alive with juvenile eagles at present. These young birds may be as young as a year (last year's fledglings) or as many as four or even five years old. They are already large (4-6' on the wing), but they are distinct in that they are a mottled brown and white from head to tail -- no distinct white heads yet! Based on my research, most eagles in our area reach maturity at about age five. And if they can avoid all the perils that they are confronted with on a daily basis (high power lines, vehicles, and poisons -- just to name a few), an eagle can live to be 20 or even 25 years old in the wild (and twice that age in captivity).
Here are a couple fun facts to consider: a bald eagle's skeleton only makes up about 5% of its total body weight -- feathers make up far more -- and its stomach is roughly the size of a walnut! (They can thank their crop for the extra carrying capacity.)