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Articles

Vol. 17 No. 2 (1986)

OBSERVATION OF COPULATION BETWEEN A NON- NESTING ADULT AND SUBADULT BALD EAGLE IN CALIFORNIA

Submitted
September 13, 2025
Published
April 1, 1986

Abstract

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) copulatory behavior has been described for wild and captive adult birds (Herrick 1932, 1934; Broley 1952; Gerrard et al. 1979; Wiemeyer 1981), but not, as far as I know, between adults and subadults. Gerrard et al. (1980) observed a marked 4-year-old female in subadult plumage adopt a copulation-solicitation posture with an adult male, but no copulation was observed. Breeding of subadults has been rarely recorded (Hoxie 1910; Bent 1937). A 3½-year-old male in adult plumage nested with an adult female and successfully fledged one young (D.A. Hammer, unpubl. data).

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