Late winter can be one of the best times to spot bald eagles! To give us an even better chance of seeing one, we met up with Alena Carlson, the Lead Naturalist at Schramm State Park along the Platte River.
This is the time of year when eagles have laid eggs in their nests, which typically hatch in late March. While one of the parents guards the nest and eggs, the other goes out fishing, which is their main source of food. Carlson says bald eagles can see a couple inches into the water, which lets them target fish from above.
Bald eagles also like to use the cottonwood trees that line the river for its nests. Eagles have a main nest, and also build and maintain a backup nest. Between fishing and housekeeping, the eagles are frequently out along the Platte river.
One of the easiest ways to identify a bald eagle is by spotting its trademark white feathers around its head and neck, but Carlson says, that section of the eagle doesn't turn white in Nebraska until the eagle is about 4 or 5 years old. So, if you see something that is bigger than a red-tailed hawk, but without the white feathers, it may still be a bald eagle.
If you can't make it to one of the parks along the Platte River, you can also see bald eagles nearby a lot at Chalco, along the Missouri River, and at Lake Manawa.
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