Bald Eagle sounds

Listen to the Bald Eagle

Each recording below is a short excerpt with its spectrogram, a picture of the sound. Time runs left to right and higher pitches sit higher up. Play each one, then look for the same shape in the next. Different recordings of the same bird help you learn the bird, not one clip.

What to listen for

Its call is a weak staccato series of chirping whistles, somewhat gull-like in cadence. Young birds give harsher, shriller calls than adults.

Many listeners write its call as “kleek kik ik ik ik”. Treat a written sound as a memory aid; individual birds and regions vary.

What it looks like

Adults are evenly dark brown with a white head and tail, bright yellow beak, feet, and irises, and large hooked bills. Immatures are dark brown with messy white streaking until they mature, and females are about 25% larger than males.

Where to find it

The Bald Eagle ranges across most of North America and breeds around seacoasts, rivers, large lakes, marshes, and other open waters rich in fish. It soars on thermal currents, remains year-round where open water persists, and migrates south or coastward when waters freeze.

BirdBrain regions that include this bird

• Alaska
• California
• Caribbean
• Eastern Canada
• Florida
• Great Lakes
• Mid-Atlantic
• New England
• Northwest
• Plains
• Rocky Mountains
• Southeast
• Southwest
• Texas
• Western Canada

Did you know?

• The Bald Eagle builds the largest nest of any North American bird.
• Its name comes from an older meaning of bald, meaning white-headed.
• It is the national bird and national symbol of the United States.

Learn the Bald Eagle by ear

BirdBrain Academy teaches bird sounds with side-by-side listening and quizzes that use different recordings, so you learn the bird rather than one clip. Start with six free lessons, no signup needed. On your phone, Sound ID can name the birds singing around you.

Start studying freeGet the iPhone or Android app

Related birds

• Red-tailed HawkHawks and Eagles
• American AvocetShorebirds
• American CrowCorvids
• American GoldfinchFinches
• American KestrelFalcons
• American RobinThrushes

Species notes are adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and checked for BirdBrain. Recordings come from xeno-canto under the licenses shown with each one. Photo: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Identification guidance is educational; birds vary, so confirm unusual sightings with local experts or eBird.