Eagles: Winging It

During creation week, about 6,000 years ago, God created birds to fill the air. Today, few birds fly through the air as majestically as the bald eagle. Isaiah 40:31 tells us that those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength and will soar on wings like eagles. God used eagles as an example of soaring for a reason—they are really good at it!

Wonderful Wings

Bald eagles have an impressive wingspan that ranges from six to eight feet. Female bald eagles have an even larger wingspan than males. Bald eagles are excellent fliers and reach speeds of 20–40 miles per hour in normal flight and up to 100 miles per hour when diving to capture prey. They can fly high in the sky—up to 10,000 feet or more.

Eagle Elevator

Bald eagles have strong wings that can continuously flap in flight, but they have a better way to travel and save energy. Because warm air is lighter than cold air, warm air rises. Eagles ride currents of warm air, called thermals, like elevators to climb high in the sky without even flapping their wings. After reaching a high altitude, they glide from thermal to thermal to go the greatest distance with the least energy.

Eagle Eye

Eagles find their food from the sky by scanning the ground for small animals. An eagle can see in front and to the side at the same time. In fact, eagles can see four to five times better than humans. They can spot a rabbit from three miles away and can see another eagle soaring in the sky nearly 50 miles away!

Making a Splash

Eagles also eat fish they spot while flying above a lake or river. They use their sharp talons to snatch fish right out of the water. The rough undersides of their feet help keep the fish from escaping their grasp. Sometimes, when a fish is too heavy for an eagle to carry in flight, the eagle will tow it to shore by using its wings to paddle. Eagles have thick down (soft feathers), allowing them to float well.

Flight School

Adult bald eagles build impressive nests to lay eggs and hatch their chicks. These nests may be five to six feet around and up to four feet tall.

Eagles mate for life and return to the same nesting place year after year. They lay one to three eggs a year. Both the male and female take turns incubating (sitting on) the eggs while the other parent hunts for food or looks for more materials to maintain the nest.

Eagle chicks, or eaglets, have all their feathers when they’re 8–14 weeks old. They learn to fly at three months old. But before they try flying, they exercise their wings by jumping up and down inside the nest. Then they practice short take-offs and landing on and around the nest before they actually fly.

The Majestic Maker

A bald eagle is breathtaking to see as it spreads its wings and flies. The majesty of the bald eagle reflects the majesty of the One who created the eagle to soar.

Murphy and the Rock

In 2023, a male bald eagle named Murphy became an overnight social media sensation. Murphy has lived at the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri since an injury left him unable to fly as a young bird.

Murphy couldn’t fly and did not have a female partner to lay eggs. But God gave eagles an innate desire to form nests and protect their young. So, Murphy found a rock, built a nest on the ground, and tried to incubate this very hard “egg.”

One day, the sanctuary received an eaglet whose nest had been destroyed by high winds. The sanctuary staff hoped Murphy would foster the baby bird.

At first, they placed the eaglet in a protective box in Murphy’s enclosure. Murphy walked around the box appearing concerned. When the staff opened the box, Murphy shared his fish with the eaglet almost right away and bonded with the chick. Months later, the grown eaglet took off back into the wild.