Bald Eagles usually mate for life or until their partner dies.  If the partner dies, the remaining eagle will most likely find a new mate.  Eagles can begin reproducing when they are between four and five years old.  Eggs are laid once a year.

Once the eggs are laid, they are incubated for 31 to 45 days.   Eggs typically hatch in the order they were laid.  This hatch order gives the eaglets that hatch first an advantage over their younger brothers and sisters.  A set of Bald Eagles will usually raise no more than two eaglets per year.  If a third eagle is born, it almost never survives.

Once the eggs hatch, the birds grow faster than any other species of bird in North America.  Bald Eagles fledge, or fly, for the first time when they are between 9 and 14 weeks old.  They spend another month or so with their parents practicing their hunting techniques and leave for good when they are four months old.

By the time an eaglet leaves the nest, it will have gone through three sets of plumage and their legs will have changed from black to yellow with black talons.   When a Bald Eagle leaves the nest, it has dark brown feathers with a white underlayer.  It will look like its parents by the time it is four to five years old.