Those Cute Newborn Eagles? They've Gotten Really, Really Ugly

Image courtesy American Eagle Foundation. DCEAGLECAM.ORG

WASHINGTON, D.C. — We all "cooed" and "awed" as cracks in little eggs on the National Arboretum's "Eagle Cam" were replaced with little beaks poking out, followed by furry little gray heads.

Those cute days are over and we have entered the awkward, frankly unattractive phase of eaglets that look nothing like their adult counterparts or their own adorable just-hatched eaglet phase weeks ago.

• Click here to see the ugly little darlings.

Cartoons often have baby animals that look like miniature versions of their parents. The baby birds at the arboretum, now named "Freedom" and "Liberty," look nothing like the iconic visage of an adult bald eagle: that white feathered head with a dramatic yellow beak and steely eyes.

And it was OK, at first. They were adorable coming out of the shell. And they were in close proximity to two fine examples of the bald eagles we know and love. It's like looking at a baby tree with four little leaves on a stalk beside an ancient oak. You respect the process.

But that was a few weeks ago. Now it looks like strange neighbors have taken over the bald eagle nest. The eaglets are bigger, with dark brown feathers behind a dark beak with just a hint of yellow around the mouth. A drive-by observer would understandably believe they'd stumbled upon the wrong webcam altogether.

"They're adorable-ugly!" commented one cam watcher.

Another viewer compared the eaglets to the fictional bird species in Jim Henson's "Dark Crystal." This is not a compliment.

No, these little birds were not switched at birth. This is all part of life. They've got to earn those brown, majestic wings and white tail. They've got to grow into that clear, white head of feathers and that yellow beak.

A Guide to Aging Bald Eagles takes us through what we can expect after these eaglets leave the nest. It turns out we'll have five or six years before we see these eaglets as the "spitting image" of their bald eagle parents.

For the first year, they're brown with dark eyes, more brooding than knowing. As they get older, the beak and eyes begin to yellow, but slowly.

It's not until the fourth year that they'll grow into a look that's more in line with expectations. Even then, there's still dark patches in the face and a mix of brown tones in the wing span.

In years five and six, they're adult bald eagles, at least in appearance. Until then, there's enough first on the webcams — first self-feeding, first jump in the air, first flight — to keep us watching.