At four weeks of age the eaglets are moving around the nest and can consume up to 2 pounds of food per day.

By the time the eaglets are 6 weeks old they have begun to feed themselves from food brought to the nest and left by the parents. The eaglet's "play" in practice of their hunting skills, by pouncing and grabbing scraps of food, left over bones etc. During this time it is possible for the eaglets to accidentally wound or kill a smaller nest mate.

Nearly adult size by 8 weeks of age the eaglets appetites are at their peaks. While the parents hunt constantly to provide food for them, the eaglets are fully feathered and are beginning to test their wings by jumping and hopping to nearby branches, and may even be lifted by gusts of air for a short time. Should and eaglet misjudge his landing and not be able to return to the nest or become grounded at this time, the adults may try to continue feeding it but it most likely will not survive.