Females lay a clutch of one to three eggs, but usually two. Incubation lasts from five to six weeks. One problem that greatly hampers the recovery of the species is sibling competition. A female lays her eggs a few days apart, and incubation begins with the first egg. One to two days is the normal age difference between eaglets.
Older hatchlings are able to dominate the youngers ones for food because of their size.
In a three-egg brood, the third chick has little chance of survival. Those that do not have access to water leave the frozen countryside in the winter and migrate to south or to the coast. There are three methods of flight used during migration. Habitat Bald eagles are able to live anywhere on the North American continent where there are adequate nest trees, roosts ands feeding grounds. Open water such as a lake or an ocean, however, is a necessity.