A few years ago, after watching Bald Eagle cams for a long time, I began to realize how central hormones are to the reproductive processes of birds. So I embarked on what turned out to be a lengthy journey of studying the topic. The journey took me back to observations, statistics, and videos I have collected over the years, and through hundreds of articles and books. I am still certain that I don’t understand everything. But I felt confident enough to put into words, charts, diagrams, and images at least some of what I was learning. The new pages I have created have helped me address many of my own questions about why things happen, and I have seen other folks who watch the eagles ask many of the same questions.

As I began to write, I found that the topic was much more immense and complex than simply the names of the hormones and what they do. So the writing morphed into a giant task of organizing into topics many facets of the biology and behavior of Bald Eagles that rest on the foundation of hormones. I have come up with four pages, each devoted to one of those topics:

The Avian Endocrine System (i.e., Hormones!)
Life History or Annual Cycle
Reproduction and Hormones
Photoperiodism and Life History

These pages are found under the Biology tab, along with References I’ve consulted.

The pages are rather long and detailed, which those nerdy Bald Eagle observers who have wondered about many of the same things I have may appreciate. But for those who don’t want so much information all at once, I have provided sidebars with Summaries of each page, as a guide to what the full text covers.

As always, I welcome comments and questions (through the Contact tab on this website, or on Facebook), and would be delighted to hear from anyone who knows more about hormones than I do with any corrections or clarifications that I need to make.