Re: Bald Eagle nest in back yard

Posted by NewMexiKen on Jan 17, 2021; 10:40am
URL: http://bald-eagles-of-broward-county-florida.17.s1.nabble.com/Bald-Eagle-nest-in-back-yard-tp7575764p7575771.html

Good question, Isaac--

Adult Bald Eagles may call anywhere and any time except during the night. Nestlings give out a loud cheeping sound. The male juveniles are said to have higher pitched calls than the females. Individual adults may be identified by differences between their calls (amost the same way individual whales are identified on sonograms). You may notice this when you hear both calling simultaneously. They call very loudly together in courtship and when copulating, also often when exchanging incubation duties.  

From Cornell Lab "Birds of the World:"

"Three distinctive calls described with sonograms by Verner and Lehman (154), based on human approach to nesting birds. “Wail” seldom given; “peal” often given in response to human approach, consists of high-pitched, prolonged, gull-like cry often repeated 3–5 times. Chatter Call (Figure 3A), most common response, usually consists of 3 or 4 introductory notes separated by short gaps of silence (< 1 s) followed by a rapid sequence of descending notes, usually 6–9 notes in call sequence (kwit kwit kwit kwit kee-kee-kee-kee-ker).

"Female will give single, soft, high-pitched note repeated several times, unlike any other calls in nature; apparently signals to male readiness for copulation (155). Territorial adult emits “threat vocalization,” a high-pitched peal (Figure 3B), when other birds or humans approach nest site as defense mechanism (12). Will also emit a short, staccato Hic Call while circling over nests (156). Male and female often vocalize after returning to nest, suggestive of some form of greeting but actual function unknown. Individuals also give threat vocalization (“peal”) to fend off attack at communal feeding sites (127)."

Ref: Buehler, D. A. (2020). Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.baleag.01