BirdNoir: Who’s Soaring Overhead?

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BirdNoir: Who’s Soaring Overhead?
Written by Ariana Remmel

This is BirdNoir. I’m Private Eye Michael Stein.

         [Song “Merlin” by Art Blakey]

My buddy Calvin likes to keep to himself. He had just moved out to a lakeside cabin for extra privacy when he called me:

Calvin: Michael, I think I’m being watched. Some big brown hawk has flown over the cabin almost every day this week — and it’s starting to creep me out.

What makes you say it’s a hawk?

Calvin: Well, it’s always soaring high overhead. The bird holds its wings flat as a plank and I hardly ever see it flap.

That does sound like a bird of prey, Calvin. But tell me more about the wings. Are they broad and rounded like a Red-tailed Hawk or long and straight like a Bald Eagle?

Calvin: Now that you mention it, this guy’s the right shape for a Bald Eagle. But like I said, the bird is brown — not bald! I can’t see any white at all.

Ah, mystery solved! You’re looking at a juvenile Bald Eagle.

         [Bald Eagle]

These birds take up to five years to get that classic white head and tail. Until then, young Bald Eagles are varying shades of mottled brown. I’ll bet this youngster is getting the lay of the land — your lakefront neighborhood included.

Calvin: I guess it is kinda nice to get to know my new neighbors. Thanks, Michael.

Anytime, Calvin!

         [Bald Eagle]

Want more bird mysteries delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter at BirdNote.org. I’m Michael Stein, Private Eye.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Bald Eagle ML200943 recorded by Gerrit Vyn.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2026 BirdNote August 2026
Narrator: Michael Stein and Mark Bramhill

ID# noir-14-2026-08-31    noir-14