Bald eagle

Close-up profile of an adult bald eagle with its yellow bill and white head against a blue sky

The first eagles of the year often show up in March, perched in bare cottonwoods along open stretches of river while the rest of the landscape is still locked in winter. A bald eagle on a branch looks like it has all the time in the world, but it is watching everything: the water, the sky, the neighbours. Many pairs come back to the same nest year after year, and spring is when you see them at their most active.

Bald eagles pair for life and keep adding to the same nest until it can weigh hundreds of kilograms. The famous white head and tail don’t appear until a bird is about four or five years old; young eagles are mottled brown and are often mistaken for a different species. Their eyesight is several times sharper than ours. Most leave Manitoba as the rivers freeze in late fall, though a few stay wherever open water and food hold out.

Want to learn more about the bald eagle and where it lives? Visit its page at All About Birds.

Field notes in photographs

  • Adult bald eagle perched high in a bare tree against a pale sky
  • Black and white portrait of an immature bald eagle perched on a branch, facing the camera
  • Two immature bald eagles circling in a bright blue sky
  • Adult bald eagle perched on a branch in a bare tree against blue sky
  • Adult bald eagle perched on a bare branch against a soft blue sky
  • Immature bald eagle soaring with wings spread against a blue sky
  • Adult bald eagle perched among bare branches
  • Adult bald eagle perched on a twig with its feathers ruffled against a blue sky
  • Adult bald eagle perched on a bare branch against deep blue sky
  • Adult bald eagle perched on the top of a bare tree against a lavender sky
  • Adult bald eagle perched on frosty branches against a pale background
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 1
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 2
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 3
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 4
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 5
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 12
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 14
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 16
  • Bald eagle photographed in Manitoba, 17
  • Adult bald eagles landing on river ice beside a fish carcass while young eagles look on, Manitoba
  • Two young bald eagles squaring off with talons out above river ice, a fish carcass at lower left, Manitoba
  • Juvenile bald eagle with mottled brown and white plumage perched on a bare branch, Manitoba
  • Bald eagle lifting off from broken ice beside a danger sign

Bald eagle Manitoba sightings

Where and when you can find the bald eagle in Manitoba depends on the season and the habitat. You can see more species in the Manitoba birds section.

Map of Manitoba showing where the bald eagle nests and lives year-round, with major cities and lakes
Where to look for the bald eagle in Manitoba through the seasons: nesting in the Boreal Shield, the Taiga Shield, the Hudson Plains, the Southern Arctic, and the Boreal Plains (gold) and living year-round in the Prairies (teal). Habitat regions: National Ecological Framework for Canada. Boundaries: Statistics Canada. Lakes: Natural Earth.

Back to Manitoba bird photography, or see the portfolio.

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