Noah,
If you haven’t already you may want to do one or more of the following. Apologize if you’re way beyond this level already.
- purchase a field guide from folks like Kenn Kaufman, David Sibley, etc..
- Mobile field guide for your phone such as iBird (they have various versions) and I believe these are available for both iPhone and Android
- install Merlin and eBird on your mobile phone
- Enroll in some of the Cornell Academy courses
These guides and classes will help you understand the basics on what to look for and how to identify any bird. When looking at Raptors, it’s always harder when looking at juveniles and first hatch year birds.
Eagles are significantly larger overall compared to other raptors especially the Hawk family. One thing that really stands out on Eagles are the very large beak and feet. If you compare this to a red-tail hawk, you’ll see the difference right away. Try and compare the beak length the size of their heads meaning the Eagles beak is not only thick with a dramatic hook in front but it’s about 1/2 the size in length of its overall head. Compare that to a red-tail, which is maybe 1/3 the length of its head. There are other field marks that you’ll want to look for and that’s where the field guides come in.
The best way to learn is to just get out and see as many birds as you can and over time, these things will get easier and you’ll want to tackle the LBJ’s (little brown job, sparrows, etc) or Gulls....now it gets fun and frustrating but you’ll never stop once hooked. Oh, and keep asking questions because it helps everyone, even the best Birders, imho.
good luck and happy birding.
-tom
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