In fact, Auke Bay is one of the highest densities of nests you'll find anywhere. Mature eagles stay close by their nests most of the year. They leave mostly to find food. Mottled juvenile eagles, on the other hand, journey as far as Oregon during their first five years. Scientists theorize that is why the young are larger than the mature eagles and shrink as they reach nesting age.
Female eagles are also larger than the males.
Healthy adult eagles weigh 10 to 12 pounds and have wingspans up to 8 feet. Though eagles stay with one mate for many years, scientists no longer think the birds mate for life. Though eagles mate in April, they work on their nests year-round. As a pre-mating ritual, eagles dive, lock their talons and somersault through the air. Biologists used to think they were mating while they somersaulted, but recently discovered they weren't.