Bald eagles in California: An endangered eagle by season and region

Bald eagles live in California all year. Breeding pairs nest mostly in the northern part of the state, and from fall through early spring hundreds of migrants from the northwestern states and Canada join them at lakes, reservoirs and rivers across most of California, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The best viewing is from December to March. About half of the state's wintering bald eagles gather in the Klamath Basin on the Oregon border, which CDFW calls the largest winter concentration in the lower 48 states.

The bald eagle is listed as endangered under California law and is a fully protected bird, even though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed it from the federal endangered species list in 2007. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, fewer than 30 nesting pairs were left in the state. CDFW now reports bald eagles in 41 of California's 58 counties.

This guide covers how to identify a bald eagle, where and when it occurs in California, including southern California, how it nests and feeds, what it sounds like, how the law protects it and which birds are mistaken for it. It is part of our guide to the birds of California and our guide to birds of prey in California.

Bald eagle identification: A white head and tail on an 8- to 14-pound raptor:

Adult bald eagles are dark brown with a pure white head and tail and a bright yellow bill. CDFW gives their weight as about 8 to 14 pounds and their wingspan as 6½ to 8 feet, with females larger than males. Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds puts their length at roughly 28 to 38 inches and notes that a bald eagle dwarfs a turkey vulture or red-tailed hawk. In flight, the long, broad wings are held flat.

Young bald eagles are harder to name. They are mostly brown, mottled with varying amounts of white on the body and wings, and they reach full adult plumage at 4 or 5 years of age, CDFW says.

Bald eagle at a glance: Size, season and status in California

Sources: CBRC checklist (September 8, 2026); CDFW Bald Eagles in California; All About Birds; CDFW listed-animals list (July 2026).

Bald eagles in California: Year-round nesters in the north and winter visitors statewide:

Most of California's breeding territories are in the north, in mountain and foothill forests and woodlands near reservoirs, lakes and rivers. CDFW says eagles also nest in scattered places in the central and southern Sierra Nevada, at several sites from the central Coast Ranges to inland southern California and on Santa Catalina Island. The species is more common at lower elevations and is not found in the high Sierra Nevada, according to CDFW's California Wildlife Habitat Relationships account.

California's resident pairs stay near their nesting areas through the winter and move to lower elevations only when conditions turn severe. The migrants come from nesting areas in the northwestern states and Canadian provinces. They arrive in fall and early winter and may stay until February, March or even April, and CDFW says some have been tracked to nesting territories in north-central Canada 2,000 miles away. On some midwinter statewide surveys, more than 1,000 bald eagles have been counted in California. CDFW also says numbers are rising but that population estimates are lacking.

Outside the Klamath Basin, few places hold large winter gatherings every year, though CDFW says a dozen to two dozen or more eagles can be seen in a day at some of the better reservoirs and lakes.

Bald eagles in southern California: Island nests and mountain lakes

Southern California has both nesting and wintering bald eagles. Biologists have moved dozens of birds to Santa Catalina Island as chicks or eggs since 1980, and the San Francisco Zoo hatched and released 103 eagle chicks on the Channel Islands between 1985 and 2007, CDFW records. Inland, the CWHR account lists Big Bear Lake, Cachuma Lake, Lake Mathews and the Colorado River in Southern California, along with Nacimiento and San Antonio reservoirs on the Central Coast, among the sites with the largest numbers of wintering eagles. CDFW's species page also links to a live camera on a bald eagle nest at Big Bear.

Bald eagle habitat, diet and nesting in California: Tall trees near water with plenty of fish:

Bald eagles in California need large lakes or free-flowing rivers with plenty of fish and tall perches nearby. They swoop down to pluck fish from the surface, wade into shallow water and chase injured waterbirds, the CWHR account says. They also scavenge. CDFW lists fish and waterfowl as the usual prey and salmon, deer and cattle among the carrion they eat. Bald eagles also steal prey from ospreys. In winter, they roost together in dense, sheltered conifer stands.

Pairs build large stick nests in the upper canopy of the tallest trees in the area. The CWHR account puts nests 50 to 200 feet above the ground, often in ponderosa pine, and found that 87% of California nest sites were within a mile of water. A pair may repair the same nest every year, so it grows over time, and a territory often holds several nests.

In most of California, the breeding season runs from about January through July or August. The female lays one or two eggs, occasionally three, in late winter or early spring. Incubation lasts about 35 days, and the chicks fledge at 11 or 12 weeks. Within weeks of leaving the nest, many young eagles fly hundreds of miles north to feed on salmon, and some reach northern and western Canada before returning to California a few months later. Bald eagles first breed at 4 or 5 years of age. Nesting pairs are sensitive to people. The CWHR account notes that territories have been abandoned after logging and recreational development nearby.

Bald eagle calls and sounds: Thin, shrill whistles from a large raptor:

The bald eagle's voice is surprisingly weak for its size. All About Birds describes the usual call as a string of shrill whistles or piping notes, and it notes that females give a single soft, high note that appears to signal readiness to mate. The All About Birds bald eagle sounds page has recordings of these calls.

Bald eagle legal status in California: State endangered, fully protected and covered by two federal laws:

The bald eagle was added to the federal endangered species list in 1967 and to California's list in 1971. The pesticide DDT, used widely after World War II, poisoned eagles and thinned their eggshells, and its U.S. ban in 1972 let breeding success recover, CDFW says. Protection of nest sites, limits on lead shot and reintroductions helped as well. Between 1987 and 1995, 66 eaglets were released in the central coast mountains south of Monterey Bay, and the first nesting pair from those releases formed in 1993. In 1977, bald eagles were nesting in eight counties. By the mid-1990s they nested in 28. Lead from contaminated prey and carcasses still kills bald eagles, according to CDFW.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the bald eagle from the federal threatened and endangered list on August 8, 2007. It is still listed as endangered in California, with a state listing date of June 27, 1971, on CDFW's July 2026 list of listed animals. It is also fully protected under Fish and Game Code section 3511, where it appears as the southern bald eagle. Fully protected birds may not be taken or possessed at any time, apart from narrow exceptions such as recovery research.

The general protections for birds of prey apply too. Section 3503.5 makes it unlawful to take, possess or destroy any bird of prey or its nest or eggs except as the code allows. Section 3513 protects every bird on the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act list, which includes the bald eagle. At the federal level, both the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibit killing, selling or otherwise harming eagles, their nests or their eggs.

The bald eagle is the national symbol, but it is not California's state bird. Government Code section 423 has named the California valley quail the official state bird since 1943.

Similar species to the bald eagle in California: Golden eagles and turkey vultures:

The golden eagle is the bird most often confused with a young bald eagle. Adult golden eagles are dark brown all over with a golden sheen on the back of the head and neck, and young golden eagles show clean white patches at the base of the tail and in the wings, All About Birds says. Young bald eagles are blotched with white more irregularly across the body and wings. Golden eagles also soar with the wings lifted in a slight V, while bald eagles hold theirs flat. Habitat helps. Golden eagles favor open country around mountains, hills and cliffs, while bald eagles are usually near water.

The turkey vulture is smaller and has a bare head that is red in adults. From below, its wings look two-toned, with pale flight feathers behind dark linings, and it rocks from side to side as it soars with its wings in a V, according to All About Birds. The osprey, another large fish-eater, is smaller than a bald eagle and white below, according to All About Birds.

Bald eagles in California: A recovery still being counted:

Bald eagles in California have come back from fewer than 30 nesting pairs to a bird that CDFW now reports in 41 of the state's 58 counties, with more than 1,000 counted on some winter surveys. State law still treats the bald eagle as endangered and fully protected, and CDFW says population estimates are still lacking and that continued monitoring is essential. For most Californians, the best chance to see one is a winter visit to a large lake or reservoir between December and March.