![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/golden-eagle-6376-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"golden-eagle-6376-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nThis is one of the better views I have of the\u00a0field marks of a juvenile Golden Eagle in flight.<\/p>\n
In the field Golden Eagles can be difficult to classify as to specific age because there’s much variation\u00a0among individuals\u00a0and age-related traits of juveniles, sub-adults\u00a0and adults\u00a0are often obscured. Poor light on the underside of an eagle in flight when it’s\u00a0high overhead and far away\u00a0(as is often the case with this\u00a0species) doesn’t make the daunting\u00a0task any easier.<\/p>\n
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1\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this juvenile (mostly in its first plumage)\u00a0almost\u00a0exactly a year ago as it soared overhead in Box Elder County, Utah. The brightly lit golden nape easily identifies it as a Golden Eagle. I’m quite happy with the image because of its sharpness and good detail (especially for a bird flying overhead with shaded underparts), the\u00a0slightly open beak and I even have a good look at the eye with a catch light which is\u00a0often missing in images like this.<\/p>\n But mostly I appreciate the good look at some of the field marks of the juvenile. Both juveniles and sub-adults have varying amounts of white in the tail and wings. Those whites\u00a0gradually become darker as they age\u00a0but in\u00a0juveniles the white in the tail typically covers more than half of its entire ventral surface and many of their remiges (wing\u00a0primary flight feathers) have a white\u00a0base which produces the distinctive white wing patch of the juvenile. White wing patches vary\u00a0considerably in size among juveniles. Based on the emerging primary in the right wing and the time of year I suspect this bird is transitioning into sub-adult I.<\/p>\n Adults are completely dark and show only faint gray mottling in the wings and tail. The amount of white in the tail and remiges\u00a0of sub-adults (I-IV)\u00a0is intermediate and variable.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: Aging Golden Eagles can be tricky even for experts and I’m\u00a0far from an\u00a0authority on the subject so I’d appreciate knowing about it if I’ve made any glaring\u00a0errors.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is one of the better views I have of the field marks of a juvenile Golden Eagle in flight.<\/p>\n