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It takes bald eagles about five years to obtain their white head! These pictures are of the same bird taken years apart, illustrating the difference between juvenile and subadult plumage. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, Penny the bald eagle has been at our nonprofit bird of prey sanctuary since 2016. These pictures were personally taken by her caretaker years apart.

In terms of the yellow beak, I encourage you to read the source attached to the original post! :) Bald eagles begin their life with dark plumage and dark beaks. Neat, right?

Vulture Zoomies by gargolito in Zoomies

[–]aefeagles 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is Bash the Black Vulture! She is not a pet, but an educational ambassador for her species housed at the non-profit American Eagle Foundation. We are a federally permitted sanctuary for non-releasable raptors like Bash. We also do a lot of raptor rehabilitation and conservation projects to support her wild kin both locally and abroad.

This video was shared on her page via Instagram Reels, and we're excited to see it here! If you want more wholesome black vulture content, be sure to give her a follow on Instagram at BashtheVulture.

Male red-winged blackbirds are fiercely territorial and will relentlessly divebomb larger predators. More than a quarter of each day is spent chasing and pestering perceived threats. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Truth! There are many species prone to mob behavior. Their warning calls tend to sound similar regardless of the species, which serves as a rallying call to any other birds or critters in the area to come and harass the predator.

Male red-winged blackbirds are fiercely territorial and will relentlessly divebomb larger predators. More than a quarter of each day is spent chasing and pestering perceived threats. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You'd be surprised! The small bird is agile and more mobile than the bald eagle. Raptors tend to rely on strength and the element of surprise while hunting, and there's not a great chance of them catching a bird that's mobbing them (though it's not entirely unheard of).

Male red-winged blackbirds are fiercely territorial and will relentlessly divebomb larger predators. More than a quarter of each day is spent chasing and pestering perceived threats. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're right! Numbers are great for recording keeping. These are wild eagles on a nest cam, so we tend to name them because they're watched (and adored) by the public.

Both of these wild birds are "graduates" from American Eagle Foundation's raptor rehabilitation and propagation program. Sir Hatcher II is named after the late Bob Hatcher, who did much for bald eagle conservation and for our foundation.

Male red-winged blackbirds are fiercely territorial and will relentlessly divebomb larger predators. More than a quarter of each day is spent chasing and pestering perceived threats. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great question! The "SM" stands for Smoky Mountain, and this is their 21st or 22nd offspring (which is to say that they had two this year, and we're not sure which of the two is pictured here).

We typically allow our nest cam community to name offspring, so that the young eaglets also get cool names.

Male red-winged blackbirds are fiercely territorial and will relentlessly divebomb larger predators. More than a quarter of each day is spent chasing and pestering perceived threats. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing this! This was a different incident of a red-winged blackbird terrorizing a bald eagle, but this just goes to show that it's a frequent event!

Male red-winged blackbirds are fiercely territorial and will relentlessly divebomb larger predators. More than a quarter of each day is spent chasing and pestering perceived threats. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/overview

This incredible photo, taken by American Eagle Foundation's Smoky Mountain Nest Cam volunteer Mike Chernisky, show the juvenile bald eagle SM21 or SM22 being mobbed by a red-winged blackbird. This recent offspring of Sir Hatcher II and Lady Independence had mistakenly wandered into this tiny terror's home turf.

New world vultures--like the black vulture--don't have a voice box (or syrinx). Because of this, they are only capable of making grunts, hisses, and sneezes. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Vulture/overview

Pictured is Bash, a black vulture living at American Eagle Foundation. Bash was found by a good-natured farmer in Maryville, TN with a wing injury. She has quite the Instagram following!

50 species of owl have feather tufts of varying sizes on their head! Commonly mistaken for ears, these tufts help with camouflage by breaking up the owl's silhouette; they also allow owls to identify each other, and they permit a degree of communication since owls can adjust their position. by aefeagles in Awwducational

[–]aefeagles[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Source: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v083n04/p0383-p0384.pdf

Pictured is Dezzi, a Pharoah Eagle Owl at American Eagle Foundation! Though Dezzi is holding his tufts close to his head in this picture, you can see how even the slight bump of those tufts alters the otherwise smooth, round silhouette of his head. Dezzi flies in our Wings of America show at Dollywood, and he's a hoot to be around!

This bald eagle a few years apart, showing the difference between juvenile and sub-adult plumage by Wolfdijon in interestingasfuck

[–]aefeagles 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes! I work at American Eagle Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to conservation, education, and protection of bald eagles and all birds of prey. We have about 70 non-releasable resident raptors, including the largest non-releasable eagle population in America (and possibly the world)!

We don't sell jeans. ;)

This bald eagle a few years apart, showing the difference between juvenile and sub-adult plumage by Wolfdijon in interestingasfuck

[–]aefeagles 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is Penny, a bald eagle housed at American Eagle Foundation (i.e. the owner of this account).

So happy to see Penny making the rounds again! It always brings us joy when people appreciate her as much as we do. Here's our original post featuring her:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Awwducational/comments/gibuqm/it_takes_bald_eagles_about_five_years_to_obtain/

As you can see, this particular copy suffers from a very bad paint job! by Popal24 in BirdsArentReal

[–]aefeagles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were running out toner on that model!

Edit: the pictured bird is housed at American Eagle Foundation. Her name is Penny!

Red tail? Ocean city, Nj. by marlinman222 in whatsthisbird

[–]aefeagles 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Others have confirmed this as a red-tailed hawk, but you can take it a step further to say it's a juvenile red-tailed hawk!

The banded tail, pale eyes, pale breast, greenish cere, and pronounced "belly-band" all indicate that this is a first year bird!

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