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The
young eagle's natural instincts make it suspicious of human visitors
to the nest. Did you notice how it uses its beak and wings to show
it isn't happy? It is warning the intruder that it will put up a fight
if necessary! Did you notice the view in the background? You
can only see the tops of the trees.
The
bald eagle in the picture is still quite young. In fact it is still
living in the nest! Because
this eaglet doesn't fly yet it stays put while a band is
attached to each leg.
It is June in New York state and
time for eagle biologists to visit the
nest
sites.
They
want
to
know
how
many
nestlings
hatched and 
survived.
The juveniles in the nest are banded before they fledge, or leave
the nest. The eaglets are banded with both a
federal
and a state band. Each
bird gets a unique number. That number along with the eagle's
age, sex, and hatching location are recorded. When an eagle dies
or is injured and is found wearing a band, biologists study the age,
how
far the bird was away from it's hatching location and numerous other
things.