So much for respecting your elders.
The unwritten rules that we humans often follow don’t always directly translate to the animal kingdom. I’m sure you’ve heard someone say “nature is metal” or “nature is brutal” before. That’s truly the case. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, or in this case, a young-bald-eagle-against-old-bald-eagle world.
This footage below captured an incredible, mid-air showdown between a young bald eagle and a more mature baldie. Younger bald eagles don’t have the prominent white-capped head that their elders do. In fact, it takes a couple of years for a bald eagle’s plumage to reach full development, which is why the bird that swoops in on the other in this clip looks the way it does.
The average person might even mistake the young bald eagle for a golden eagle.
And the advantage in these types of situations usually goes to the more experienced eagle. Experience and seniority often breeds better awareness and instincts… and I don’t want to ruin this video for you before you get a chance to see it, but the older one does seem to know the exact evasive maneuver to go into once the younger, predatory bird goes after the fish in its talons.
Bald eagles are scavengers at the end of the day (some call them vultures with good PR agents), so this younger bald eagle was electing to get a fish for dinner the easier way. Could it have fished for its own dinner? Yes, of course. Bald eagles are very skilled at the art of fishing. But could the young bird also save some time and effort by stealing another bald eagle’s freshly caught fish? You betchya, and that’s exactly what this one tried to do.
The footage of two bald eagles in an aerial dogfight (bird-fight may be more accurate, but you get what I’m saying) that wildlife photographer Mark Smith caught on camera is truly stunning. The incredibly clear fight plays out in slow motion, and you can actually see the shock in the older bald eagle’s face as the young bird comes after the meal it worked hard for.
The power of an eagle’s talons are on full display, and remarkably, the older baldie pulls off an in-flight barrel roll to break free from it’s attacker. I’m sure the young bald eagle thought it had its adversary right where it wanted it, until our national bird pulled off a move that only a baldie that’s been around the block a time or two would know to deploy:
“Never a dull moment around eagles. Young or old, they always tangle and this juvenile almost stole a nice meal. Better luck next time.”
Is that not the coolest bald eagle video you’ve ever seen?
It’s certainly up there for me, and I’ve got to hand it to Mark Smith. We should all feel very fortunate that we got to witness this… but he was there to see it in person and kindly got it on video for the rest of us to enjoy. If you’ve never seen his work before, he does a tremendous job… give him a follow for more like these:
