In case your having a hard time identifying either of these two birds in the air,

here is a quick Identification Guide to the American Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon

Common Name: Bald Eagle

Species: Haliaeetus Leucocepalus

Description: Second larges bird in North America (California Condor is bigger).  The adult is black with a white head and tail and a heavy yellow bill.  The immature is brown with possible cream-white patches that disappear as it gets over, looks similar to a Golden Eagle only it does not have feathers down to the foot.  The older the eagle, the more brilliant yellow the cere and feet, also the white head and tail.  Males and females are the same color; females are slightly larger than males.  White head/tail feathers are fully developed at the age of 4 to 5 years.  

Length: female 34-43 inches; male 30-35 inches

Wingspan: 7-8 feet

Weight: 8-14 pounds

Flight Speed: over 100 miles per hour while diving; 30-40 mph  in normal flight

Life Span: 20 to 30 years; but many do not survive the first year of life

Eye Sight: resolving power is 6-8 times that of humans

Voice: Squeaky cackling and thin squeals, like gull laughter.

Food: Fish!! Sixty to ninety percent of their diet is fish; includes suckers, northern pike, muskellunge and bullheads.  Eagles aren't fussy -they'll eat live or dead fish  Also eat waterfowl, mammals and carrion when fish is in less supply.

Habitat: Lakes, rivers, marshes, and seacoasts

Nesting: Two or three white eggs in a massive nest of stick in a tall tree or, less frequently, on top of a cliff. Incubation is 35-40 days, by both male and female.  Their first flight is approx. 3 months of age and leave the nest at about 4 months of age.  An Eyrie or Aerie (same as a peregrine nest) consists of a large mass of branches, usually nest to the trunk of the tree.  Nests are often reused year after year with more branches added during the courting period for about a week.  A nest starting at a size of 4 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep can become much larger over time and eventually topple, so back up nests may be built.  The nest is line with grasses or pine needles.  It is usually in a super canopy tree (one above all others).  This allows them to see trouble form a long distance.  The tree is generally close to water and food source.  Alternate nests (3-4) are found in many territories.  Nest construction begins in February or March.

Courtship:  Occurs in January or February.  Male and female soar high into the sky, lock talons together and then plummet towards the earth in a spinning cartwheel motion. When it appears that they will surely crash, they suddenly separate and fly up into the sky to repeat the act.  The display bonds the male and female which are believed to mate for life.  This activity also discourages other males from coming into the territory.

Range: Found only in North America, breeds from Alaska east to Newfoundland and south locally to California, the Great Lakes and Virginia.  Also in Arizona, along the Gulf Coast, and Florida.  Winters along coasts and large rivers in the United States, where the water is open.

Adaptations: talon; razor-sharp claws used to capture food.  These powerful feet grasp and hold the prey.  Tiny spikes on the toes aid in holding slippery fish.  Beak looks more menacing than it is.  It's used to tear food into bite-sized pieces.  The beak is strong and curved.  Feathers- large, broad wings for long periods of soaring.

Common Name: Peregrine Falcon, Duck Hawk.

Species: Falco Peregrinus, Peale's peregrine (pealei), tundra 

peregrine (tundrius), and anatum peregrine are the three 

subspecies found in North America. Genus name Falco from 

the Latin falcatus meaning sickle-shaped, referring to the curved

shape of the falcon's claws or talons.  The species name peregrinus, is a Latin word meaning foreigner or stranger (pilgrim), referring to the peregrine falcon's habit of wandering great distances. 

Description: (of anatum) The peregrine is a crow sized falcon.

Adult birds are slate gray above, and white to buff heavily barred chests.  Other markings include distinctive black sideburns, horn colored bill, and yellow feet and cere (dense membrane on the upper mandible around nostrils).  Juvenile birds have brownish backs and breasts heavily streaked with brown.  Adult male and female peregrines are outwardly similar, but females are up to 50% larger (approximate average weight of males.) Males are known as "tiercels," females are "falcons"

Length: approximately 15 to 20 inches from tip to tail 

Wingspan: 40- 46 inches

Weight: 22 ounces, average weight of females (males about 13 ounces)

Flight Speed: in normal flight up to 60 mph, in a stoop can top 200mph in right conditions

Life Span: Can live 12-15 years, although mortality is high for newly fledged peregrines.  Mortality is roughly 60% the first year, and 20% every year thereafter.

Voice: In migration the peregrine is generally silent.  At nest site may repeat witchew-witchew-witchew call in recognition of mate.  Intruders at nest site are greeted with an angry kack-kack-kack.

Food: Peregrine falcons are adapted to foraging almost exclusively on living birds, primarily perching birds and shorebirds.  Some of these include: rock doves (Columba livia), yellow-shafted flicker (Colaptes auratus), ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis), mourning dove (Zenaida marcroura), and European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Habitat: Prefers open habitats such as tundra, seacoasts, mountains, and open forests.  Historically, the peregrine bred from Alaska and Greenland south to California and Georgia.  Reintroduction efforts have restored the peregrine to much of its former range across the lower 48 states.  

Nesting: Known as "eyries", nests are usually located along steep cliff ledges, as well as man made structures such as tall buildings.  Breeding pair do not construct a nest, instead they lay a clutch of 3 to 4 eggs in a shallow, rounded depression called a "scrape".  Scrape is composed of loose material or gravel on the nest ledge.  Nests on the ground and in trees are recorded for some habitats.  Traditionally, the best nest sites were occupied year after year, although not necessarily by the same pair of birds.  Eggs are laid at intervals of 2 to 3 days.  Incubation begins with laying of last egg.  Young hatch synchronously, both parents share parental duties, although female does most of incubation and brooding of young.

Growth and Development: At birth, the baby falcons, called "eyases," weigh about 2 ounces.  Nestlings are sem-altricial, meaning that they hatch with eyes closed, sport a scant coat of down, are not mobile, and are totally dependant on their parents for food and protection.

Ten days: The young have grown their second coat of down, heavier and fluffier than the first.  They require little or no brooding at this point, but an ever increasing amount of food.

Two weeks: Now four times their hatch size, the young have opened their eyes and are strong enough to move about the nest.

Three weeks: Flight feathers begin to poke through the down of the active youngsters.

Five weeks: Most of their down has now been replaced by regular plumage and wing flapping begins in earnest.

Six weeks: The first flight of the young begin.

Eight to nine weeks: The young falcons show a keen interest in pursuing prey, chasing insects and other birds.

Ten to twelve weeks: The young peregrines begin acquiring their own food.  By early August, they will begin to disperse from the nest site.

Hunting Methods: Excellent vision allows the peregrine falcon to locate prey from great distances.  Hunting behavior includes still hunting from a perch and aerial hunting while circling overhead.  Prey often taken from a steep and swift dive known as a "stoop". The exact speed reached during these dives appears to be under debate, but most sources believe the birds can reach speeds in excess of 100mph, with some speculating that they can go as fast as 200mph.  Top speed in level flight is 60mph.

Range:

F.p. anatum: Breeds in North America, with the exception of areas occupied by the other three subspecies (although on occasion they do overlap into territories).  The Northern populations are relatively migratory, wintering at least to the Gulf coast, the southern ones generally resident.

F.p. Pealei: Breeds from the Aleutian Islands to the Queen Charlotte Islands; relatively sedentary.  This form’s Alaskan range is sometimes limited to southeastern Alaska.