At 2:38 PM -0800 1/5/04, Rob McNair-Huff wrote:
>During two trips along Ruston Way at the south end of Commencement Bay in
>Tacoma today I have noted a larger than normal congregation of eagles -
>two mature Bald Eagles, one immature Bald Eagle, and a fourth eagle that
>appears to be larger than the mature Bald Eagles, making me suspect it
>could be a Golden Eagle. All four birds have been seen along the bluff,
>sitting in madrona and other trees and flying along the shoreline while
>scaring up the local waterfowl. I have yet to get a close enough look at
>the suspect eagle to note the head color, but it has an overall darker
>hue with no white seen anywhere on the bird, strongly fingered feathers,
>and the larger size of the bird. It also seems to soar with a slight
>dihedral and I watched it make a few dives at the mature Bald Eagles.

From Clark and Wheeler, the _Peterson Field Guide to Hawks_:

Bald Eagle
length: 27-35", avg. 31
wingspan: 71-89", avg. 80
weight: 4.4-13.6#, avg.9.5

Golden Eagle
length: 27-33", avg. 30
wingspan: 72-87", avg.79
weight: 6.6-14#, avg. 10

With the standard caveat that size in the field can be very
subjective, a larger eagle would make me more inclined to think Bald
than Golden. A first year Baldy can loook quite dark overall, and
though I have never seen it myself, I've heard reliable reports of
the occasional Baldy flying with a dihedral. But if you can see them
all perched, probably the best way to differentiate would be by head
size; a Baldy's head is massive, in comparison to a Golden's. In
flight, a Baldy's head is roughly half the length of the tail, while
a Golden's is roughly a third. (Of course, it's the same ratio when
they're perched, but it's a little harder to make the head-to-tail
comparison). Unless your questionable bird is noticeably smaller
headed than the rest, it's most likely a Baldy.
--
Rob Saecker
Olympia
rsaecker at thurston.com