Without critical habitat. Adults are dark brown with a white head and tail and a large yellow beak. Immatures are dark with mottled white under the wings and at the base of the tail. The feet of both adults and immatures are bare of feathers. Bald eagles are long-lived birds and do not achieve full adult plumage for four or five years.
Eagles build their nests on the tops of tall trees or on cliffs.
A pair of eagles will use the same nest year after year. An active nest is one which was attended by a pair even if one of the pair was immature. An inactive nest is one which was not attended by eagles during the year. A winter nest is one that was attended by pairs that disappear at about the same time that the northern wintering eagles migrate north. A productive nest is known to have fledged at least one young.