Subject: [Tweeters] Eagle ID: Request for help
Date: Feb 21 14:28:41 2009
From: Minette Layne - minette.layne at comcast.net


Hello Tweeters,

Yesterday some friends and I observed a large eagle in Conway, Washington.
At first, I assumed that it was/is an immature American Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus leucocephalus), but something about the bird struck me as a
bit...different. I'm wondering now if it might possibly have been an
immature Golden Eagle. I did a little research this morning and found some
information that said that Golden Eagles have yellow ceres whereas American
Bald Eagles have black ceres. I have a photograph of the bird, but I still
cannot tell definitively whether the cere is yellow enough to point to it
being a Golden Eagle or if the little bit of black in it points to the bird
being a Bald Eagle. Can any of you identify the bird by looking at the
photograph?

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/minette_layne/3296876718/sizes/l/

Thanks in advance,
Minette Layne