About This Stamp
In 2026, the U.S. Postal Service honors our national bird, the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Intrinsic to the identity of the United States since the early days of the republic, these majestic raptors are realistically shown at different life stages on the 2026 Bald Eagle: Hatchling to Adult stamps.
On June 20, 1782, an Act of Congress officially adopted the bald eagle as America’s national symbol. Often associated with patriotism, Congress chose the bald eagle, which is native to North America, to embody American ideals like freedom, courage, strength, and power. A bald eagle is the centerpiece of America’s Great Seal, which is used to authenticate formal government documents, emphasizing the eagle’s importance as a symbol of the United States. On the seal, a bald eagle is shown supporting a shield on its breast, with 13 red and white stripes representing the 13 original states. A bald eagle also appears in the logo for the U.S. Postal Service and on currency and military insignia, as well as on countless buildings, flags, and commercial products across the country.
Bald eagles are also important to many Native American cultures. Eagle feathers have been used in cultural and religious ceremonies for thousands of years, and eagles themselves are the focus of many Native legends.
Designed by art director Derry Noyes, the Bald Eagle: Hatchling to Adult stamps continue a long tradition of featuring these iconic birds of prey on U.S. stamps. Two of the earliest stamps with an illustration of a bald eagle were released in 1869. Since then, bald eagles have appeared multiple times on stamps at many different rates as well as on stamped envelopes and stamped cards with designs as varied as an art deco illustration and a photograph of a carving from a wall plaque. For this stamp project, Noyes chose to go in a different direction, using naturalistic images rather than the stylized art of most past issuances.
The first stamp shows the head of an adult bald eagle in the top left corner and two hatchlings with predominantly white downy coats. The parent is dropping food into the mouth of the hatchling on the right.
The second stamp shows two four-week-old eaglets sitting upright and looking into the distance, their downy coats now a grayish-white.
The third stamp shows a one-year-old juvenile, noticeably more adult-like in appearance, facing right. Much of the down is gone, and almost all the feathers are grayish-brown in color.
In the fourth stamp, the two-year-old bald eagle’s head is turned to the left and is now mostly white. The chest and wing feathers are a mottled grayish-white, and the formerly grayish-black beak has changed to a brighter yellowish-gray color.
The fifth stamp features an illustration of the top half of a bald eagle facing right. It has the characteristic markings of an adult: white head and neck, uniform grayish-brown feathers, and a bright yellow beak.
The selvage features a photograph by Craig Goodwin showing an adult eagle perched behind two hatchlings in a nest. The issuance title, “Bald Eagle: Hatchling to Adult” is printed in large, white lettering. At the top right or left of each stamp, the words “Bald Eagle” and the corresponding life stage (one week old, four weeks old, one year old, two years old, and adult) are printed vertically in black. “Forever USA” appears at the top or bottom, in small lowercase type, also in black.
The stamp project is illustrator David Allen Sibley’s first for the U.S. Postal Service. “David Allen Sibley was my first and only choice,” says Noyes. “He has written and illustrated numerous field guides over the years, knows birds inside and out, and the illustrations in his most recent book are stunning. He was a perfect fit!”
“While the bald eagle is known to virtually all Americans as our national bird, few people know much about them,” says Sibley. “Showing the series of life stages in these stamps is a simple and visual way to emphasize that the familiar adult eagle has already lived for at least four years — through a series of transitional plumages, finding food, migrating, and surviving all of life's challenges. I hope these stamps spark curiosity and a greater appreciation for the lives of eagles.”
The 2026 Bald Eagle: Hatchling to Adult stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps. These Forever® stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director
Derry Noyes
For more than 40 years Derry Noyes has designed and provided art direction for close to 800 United States postage stamps and stamp products. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Hampshire College and a master of fine arts degree from Yale University.
Noyes worked as a graphics designer at Beveridge and Associates, a Washington, D.C., firm, until 1979 when she established her own design firm, Derry Noyes Graphics. Her clients have included museums, corporations, foundations, and architectural and educational institutions. Her work has been honored by American Illustration, the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, Communication Arts, Critique magazine, Graphis, Creativity International, and the Society of Illustrators.
Before becoming an art director for the U.S. Postal Service, she served as a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 1981 to 1983.
Noyes is a resident of Washington, D.C.
Stamp Artist
David Allen Sibley
David Allen Sibley began watching and drawing birds from an early age. The son of well-known ornithologist Fred Sibley, he had access to all things bird-related growing up and received a thorough informal education in ornithology. Although Sibley attended Cornell University for a time, he is primarily self-taught in bird- and nature-based illustration.
Sibley spent years traveling, watching, and sketching throughout North America, both on his own and as a leader of birdwatching tours. This intensive travel and bird study culminated in 2000 with the publication of The Sibley Guide to Birds, which quickly became a New York Times bestseller.
Numerous other books followed, including The Sibley Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, Sibley’s Birding Basics, and the fully illustrated Sibley Guide to Trees. Sibley’s work has also been featured in Audubon, Science, The Wilson Bulletin, North American Birds, Western Birds, and Birding, among other publications.
Gallery exhibitions of Sibley’s art have taken place at the University of Connecticut, the University of Mississippi, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Concord Museum and Museum of American Bird Art in Concord, Massachusetts, and the Bell Museum of Natural History in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Award for lifetime achievement from the American Birding Association, Sibley has also received the Eisenmann Medal from New York’s Linnaean Society.
Sibley lives and works in Deerfield, Massachusetts. In addition to birding and drawing, he enjoys gardening, travel, and walking with his dogs.
Bald Eagle: From Hatchling to Adult (2026) is his first project for the U.S. Postal Service.
