A typical nest is five feet in diameter. Because eagles often return and add to it yearly, the nest can ultimately weigh several tons. Bald eagles mate for life in their fourth year. The female lays one to three eggs. The male helps incubate.
Chicks add a pound to their body weight every four or five days.
After their first flight, they remain around the nest for a month. About 40 percent do not survive their first flight. Juvenile eagles then leave the nesting area within two months. The white hood and tail feathers appear in their fourth year. Among other examples is a pair of eagles in Oxon Hill that nested within earshot of a highway and had a chick this year.