back
13 comments
I actually saw a bald eagle try to get a loon chick once. Mom and dad loon knew the eagle was nearby, so they were trying to be vigilant. But the eagle waited until dad loon was underwater looking for food, and it took off from a tree across the pond and came in fast and low. Momma loon raised a huge racket, whooping and trilling, and put herself right between the eagle and the baby, in a display of incredible bravery, because the eagle looked about twice her size. She spread out her wings as far as she could to make herself look bigger. But the eagle swooped in, and she didn’t back down, and the eagle slammed into her, but it came away without the chick. After that, dad loon came up and saw what was going on and they both stayed right next to the chick for the next couple days. As far as I know the chick made it. It was an amazing thing to see. Loons reproduce slowly, laying one or two eggs every year, and only one year out of 2 does a chick make it. So they put a lot of effort into protecting the chick.

You don’t usually think about animals being capable of self sacrifice and bravery, but if that’s not bravery, I don’t know what is..

You painted an exceptionally vivid picture. That is a really thrilling story. Thank you.
My first trip to Alaska, I ended up on the beach at fish camp. Bald Eagles everywhere. I was sorta taken by how real Bald Eagles just weren't as majestic as the ones I saw in all those car commercials. To be honest, they were borderline annoying.
We get a number of bald eagles in Colorado over the winter (and a few that stay and nest in the summer). I have seen them kill full grown Canadian Geese in the winter and catch ducks in the air (very fast). Bald Eagles in particular are shockingly fast and agile when they want to be. They can be magnificent predators when they need to be but they are also very flexible and adaptable and if there is an easier option they will choose it. I've been a falconer for 30 years and eagles (both Bald and Golden Eagles) can be the bane of a falconer's existence in some areas. Eagles are the absolute apex avian predator and they make a significant part of their living bullying other birds of prey and taking their kills. I've known a number of falconers that have had their falcons or hawks killed by Eagles, I assume it happens in the wild all the time as well. I've seen our local eagles regularly harassing Osprey and taking their fish in the summer. It's like Bears, Wolves and Mountain Lions, they can also be magnificent predators, but when presented with an easier option like getting into the trash or eating someone's pet or livestock they'll often take it easier option.

Oh, and eagles might not snatch babies, but they have definitely killed people's dogs: https://www.outtherecolorado.com/news/family-dog-killed-by-b...

Corey Arnold's photography of bald eagles in Dutch Harbor is fascinating - they truly look like a nuisance: https://story.californiasunday.com/dirty-birds/
> Conventional wisdom followed the judgments of Audubon—“the premier avian slaughterer of his time,” as the writer Joy Williams has described him—who comes across as a bloodthirsty monster, even by the standards of his age. Audubon wrote loathingly of eagles and did not miss an opportunity to murder them. Davis relates Audubon’s satisfaction at shooting a female while she sat warming her eggs, and the agonized shrieks of a female buzzing overhead while Audubon and his men tortured her spouse.

What an image of the guy the Audubon Society — the nation's preeminent society for the protection of birds and their habitats — is named after.

Although to be fair, before photography, if you wanted to study an animal, you pretty much had to kill it, stuff it, and maybe make a drawing or painting of it. Lots of naturalists, including ones far greater than Audubon such as Darwin killed many animals.
I think there is a disconnect here. Certainly, Charles Darwin collected many specimens, but to compare his study with Audubon would be like comparing a suicidal major airline pilot to Stalin. To be clear, one could say Darwin killed specimens out of necessity to study them – while Audubon was obsessed with killing and was fantastically good at it, and then also as an afterthought, perhaps in boredom of not having anything else to kill at the moment, painted the dead thing while he waited to find something else to kill, and all the while he had teams of others killing for him. Darwin was a naturalist... and also a writer and illustrator. Audubon was a notably prolific trophy hunter during a time when everyone hunted, and he also painted. See the difference?
As an European, whenever I see a bald eagle, I can't help but view it like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7JRvwfHFwo

This is the first time I'm seeing this video (not the song), and it pretty much sums up America. lol
I live in an area with them, and have a couple that live in a tree across the pond in my backyard.

I can confirm that you are not wrong in your assessment. They are total badasses and just like that.

Is there a copy that doesn't require a sign-in to view?