Bald Eagles

One of the most captivating things to see on a cruise is an eagle swooping over the water and plucking out a salmon you didn't even know was there.  We often see eagles perched in old spruce or cottonwood trees when cruising in the many bays around Kachemak Bay State Park, and it is especially exciting to see the nests and chicks that mating pairs care for. Regardless of how often we see these majestic flyers, it is impossible to ignore them as they soar through the sky.

Bald Eagles generally live around large bodies of water and subsist mostly on fish. While they are fierce predators, they are also opportunistic hunters and will not turn their beaks up at a fish carcass found on the beach, or stealing dinner from another bird or animal.  In Alaska these raptors are known to gain a lot of their calories from salmon, but across the United States and Canada include over 400 species of fish, bird, and small mammal in their diet.

Bald Eagles don't begin their lives with the distinctive white feathering on their heads. They begin as little grey balls of fluff similar to many other newborn chicks. After a few weeks they become a mottled brown color, which they will keep for 4 or 5 years until they grow into their adult plumage and start looking for a mate.

Eagles mate for life and can have up to three eggs each year, although the mortality rate is generally high and it is rare for all three to survive to adulthood. Bald Eagles create the largest tree nests of any animal in the world, with ones being measured over 13 feet deep, 8 feet wide, and made up of over 1 ton of material. In Kachemak Bay we have a number of nesting locations that mating pairs come back to and it is fun to cruise the shoreline of sheltered coves looking to find where new pairs have started building in the spring.