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Here is a great chance to see the difference between a bald eagle and a golden eagle in this video made by Allie Ladd, a regular contributor to the Bangor Daily News.
The raptors had their turns at this beaver carcass recently.
Golden eagles are considered an endangered species in Maine, which is on the edges of their nesting grounds and their wintering areas.
These eagles nest primarily in northern Quebec Province and winter in the mid-Atlantic states, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Sightings of golden eagles in Maine are rare. Although there is some history of nesting here, the last known nest was in 1997, according to the MDIF&W website.
The earliest depiction of a golden eagle in Maine may be an Abenaki Nation sketch from 1689, the website said.
A second-year bald eagle can look quite similar to a golden eagle, but the distinctive band of white markings on the golden eagle’s tail feathers can be used to tell them apart.
Golden eagles also have feathers on their legs down to their ankles, while bald eagles have bare, bright yellow legs.
Bald eagles were nearly lost because of pesticides and other environmental factors. In 1966, there were only 21 known nesting pairs of bald eagles in Maine. Conservation efforts and cleaning up the environment has increased the number of nesting pairs to 734 by 2018.
The birds that once were protected as an endangered species were delisted in 2009, although there are laws that still protect them from being hunted and make it illegal to bother their nests.
Bald eagles are now found in all 16 counties in Maine.
