Bald Eagle

A large dark bird with a white head a large yellow beak stands over a fish carcass near snow banks and a large body of water. — Bald eagles are one of more than a dozen raptor (birds of prey) species in Yellowstone. The bald eagle is a recovered endangered and threatened species.
NPS / Jim Peaco

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was named the national symbol of the United States by Congress in 1782. Found near open water from Mexico to Alaska, bald eagles may range over great distances but typically return to nest in the vicinity where they fledged. In Greater Yellowstone they feed primarily on fish, but also on waterfowl and carrion. Numbers declined dramatically during most of the 1900s due to habitat loss, shooting, and pesticide contamination. In 1967, the US Fish and Wildlife Service listed the bald eagle as an endangered species in 43 states, including Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Habitat protection, restrictions on killing, and restrictions on pesticide use led to population growth and delisting of the species in 2007. Bald eagles nesting in northwestern Wyoming are part of the Rocky Mountain breeding population that extends into Idaho and Montana.

Number in Yellowstone

In 2023, park staff monitored 31 bald eagle territories. Of 11 occupied nests where season outcome could be determined, five (45%) successfully fledged young.
Eight young were produced. Productivity for occupied nests in 2023 (0.73 young per nesting female) was just above the longterm average (0.72).

Identification

Large, dark bird; adult (four or five years old) has completely white head and tail.
Females larger than males, as is true with most predatory birds.
Immature bald eagles show varying amounts of white; they can be mistaken for golden eagles.

Habitat

Bald eagles are usually found near water where they feed on fish and waterfowl. They also generally nest in large trees close to water.

Behavior

In severe winters, eagles may move to lower elevations such as Paradise Valley, north of the park, where food is more available. On these wintering areas, resident eagles may be joined by migrant bald eagles and golden eagles.
Feed primarily on fish and waterfowl, except in winter when fish stay deeper in water and lakes and rivers may be frozen. Then they eat more waterfowl. Eagles will also eat carrion in winter if it is available.
Form long-term pair bonds.
Some adults stay in the park year-round, while others return to their nesting sites by late winter.
Lays one to three eggs (usually two) from February to mid-April.
Both adults incubate the eggs, which hatch in 34 to 36 days.
At birth, young (eaglets) are immobile, downy, have their eyes open, and are completely dependent upon their parents for food.
Can fly from the nest at 10–14 weeks old.
Some young migrate in fall to western Oregon, California, and Washington.

Population

Bald eagles, which may reuse the same nest year after year, occupy territories near the park’s major rivers and lakes. The number of eaglets that fledge each year depends partly on weather and can fluctuate widely. Juveniles may migrate west in the fall, but adults often stay in the park year-round. Historically, about half of the park’s known bald eagle nests have been in the Yellowstone Lake area, where the productivity and success rates are generally much lower than in the rest of the park. In 2023, four occupied nests were detected on Yellowstone Lake. Parkwide, 31 territories were monitored, and occupied nests were detected at 13. Occupancy could not be determined at 13 of the 31 territories monitored. Five of the 13 occupied nests fledged a total of eight young, while six were unsuccessful and the outcome for the remaining two could not be determined.

Outlook

Research has shown that human presence can disturb eagle nesting and foraging, therefore nest areas in national parks may be closed to visitors. Yellowstone manages nest sites on a case by case basis.