My Baby Bald Eagle Photo Featured on 2026 U.S. Postal Stamp Sheet Selvage

There are few subjects in wildlife photography more compelling than baby bald eagles, known as eaglets, during their earliest days in the nest. Just ask anyone who obsessively watches webcams of bald eagle nests. I call them “uglets,” but they are cute in a dinosaur sort of way.

This post shares the story behind photographing these baby bald eagle eaglets in the wild and how the image became part of an official U.S. Postal Service stamp sheet design.

I was thrilled when I got a random email asking if I'd be open to the U.S. Postal Service using one of my bald eagle images for a new stamp release in 2026. I quickly learned the image would appear on the stamp sheet selvage rather than the stamp itself, but that distinction comes with its own unique role in the overall design. I felt a little like Norm Gunderson in the movie, Fargo, when he found out his duck painting was chosen for the 3-cent stamp instead of the 29-cent version, but it’s still exciting and the time has come for the stamps to be released to the world.

On May 14, 2026, the “Bald Eagle: Hatchling to Adult” stamps will be issued, starting in Wabasha, MN. They feature wonderful illustrations by David Allen Sibley, but check out that selvage.

© Copyright U.S. Postal Service

What Is Stamp Sheet Selvage?

I sure didn't know. The selvage is the printed border surrounding a sheet of postage stamps. It often includes artwork, photography, or design elements that complement the stamps themselves.

Here’s What I Learned Photographing These Baby Bald Eagles in the Wild

It was April of 2014, and I had just purchased an old (almost antique) Nikon manual focus 500mm f4 lens for $1,000 from a sketchy guy on eBay. This was before all the long zoom lenses were available, and I was determined to find a way to get better wildlife photos on a budget. I never did figure out how to capture birds in flight with the manual focus lens, but it was great for stationary subjects like a bald eagle nest. It just goes to show that you don’t need world-class gear to take world-class photos.

The nest featured on the stamp sheet was next to Turner Bay on Lake Coeur d’Alene. It was 100 feet up a cottonwood tree, but there was a service road that traversed the hillside across from the tree and allowed me to set up my gear and just barely aim my old lens into the nest. I stayed there all morning, taking over 1,000 photos, hoping for a composition that showcased the baby bald eagles (eaglets) and the adult eagle together in the nest.

I was thrilled when it all came together in this wildlife image that looks like they are posing for a family photo. Here's another composition from that morning that I love. One eaglet is already stretching his wings. I imagine him saying, "Look Ma, I can fly."

Bald Eagle Behavior: What I Observed

The white speck on the end of the baby bald eagle eaglets’ beaks is called the egg tooth, a sharp point they use to break the egg membrane when they break free. It falls off shortly after they hatch, which indicates these two are just a few days old.

The adult male and female alternated hunting responsibilities, with one guarding the nest while the other hunted. The real action in the nest was when the mom or dad would return with food. The hatchlings were voracious eaters and would stuff down whatever chunk of meat they could fit in their mouths. If you look close, you can see a chunk of duck meat in the nest.

Hatching from the egg is not a guarantee that the baby bald eagles will survive. I noticed one larger eaglet aggressively pecked at the smaller sibling, competing for food. It’s not uncommon for one sibling to actually kill the other. Thankfully, these two both survived to adulthood but not without challenges.

The Tragic and Hopeful Backstory of What Happened to the Baby Bald Eagles

A couple of weeks after I took these photos, the mother eagle was found dead at the bottom of the nest, likely killed by another eagle in the area. Without two parents to hunt and guard the nest, the eaglets would not have survived, so a local raptor organization climbed up and rescued the eaglets. I ran into a member of the organization at an art show that summer, and they reported that the two babies were thriving and growing into healthy adults, just like the ones featured on the “Bald Eagle: Hatchling to Adult” stamps.
These photographs are available for purchase as fine art prints. Just click on any of the images to see print options. 

Go HERE for more information about the stamps, and keep an eye out for them at your local post office starting in May.