Bringing a whole new meaning to shore lunch, this bald eagle shows no mercy. We’ve seen countless examples of the birds swooping in seemingly out of nowhere, and grabbing some helpless prey with its talons.
It goes to show just how sneaky bald eagles can be, and why they are one of the most feared and majestic birds in the country. Bald eagles are opportunistic hunters, displaying remarkable adaptability in their diet. Their primary food source consists of fish, with species such as salmon, trout, and herring serving as staple meals. These avian predators demonstrate extraordinary hunting skills, utilizing their keen eyesight to spot fish from great heights, and then diving at incredible speeds to snatch their prey from the water’s surface with their sharp talons. They will eat other things as they also consume small mammals, waterfowl, and scavenge.
With that being said, here’s the perfect example of how relentless a bald eagle can be. In this wild footage from an Indianapolis suburb, you can see a bald eagle sitting on top of the roof of a house. Obviously, it has its eyes on something.
Next thing you know, the creature flies off the roof, directly towards the neighborhood pond. The eagle dips down, bombs the water surface, and grabs hold of something in the water. Then, you see the bird make its way to land, and you realize that it’s clutching onto a big ol’ catfish.
This just goes to show how impressive a bald eagle’s eyesight is, and why it is able to stalk prey from such long distances. The caption to the video goes in-depth about the eagle’s impressive eyesight:
“With a visual acuity estimated at 20/4 to 20/5, bald eagles have a remarkable ability to spot their prey from distances that are simply unimaginable to us.
Both humans and eagles have a specialized area in the retina called the fovea, which is crucial for sharp vision. However, the eagle’s fovea is superior due to its higher density of cone cells, which are responsible for detecting fine details and color.
Also, the fovea in eagles is deeper and more conically shaped, allowing for a kind of natural magnification effect, kinda like a built-in zoom lens with up to 8 times magnification.
This unique adaptation is what empowers these majestic birds to spot a fish swimming in the waters below, whether they are soaring high in the sky or perched on a rooftop in an Indianapolis suburb.”
Check it out:
