It's also well known that Bald Eagles are lazy scavengers. Those Balds at the
Platte probably figured they'd come back later when the crane died from
exhaustion. Jerks. Golden's are much more courageous. If they didn't have such
a circumpolar range, they'd be a more fitting choice as our national symbol.
Check this out:
http://www.birdchick.com/wp/2008/03/bald-eagle-attacks-sandhill-crane/
Christian Nunes
From: kst...@audubon.org
To: cobirds@googlegroups.com
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:00:58 -0400
Subject: RE: [cobirds] Sandhill crane Boulder county
Golden Eagles have been observed successfully preying on Sandhill Cranes (and
even Whooping Cranes), though all the cases I’m personally familiar with
involved a mid-air attack on a flying crane. In one observation on the Platte
River, the crane fell to the ground after having been hit from above, and then
the Golden Eagle swooped down, picked up the crane and carried it to the top of
a post to feed on it.
As for Bald Eagles, although they commonly flush flocks of roosting cranes, I
never heard a reliable report of a Bald Eagle successfully taking a live crane,
in a dozen years of working on the Platte in Nebraska. One personal
observation I had was pretty instructive. A Sandhill Crane with a broken wing
found itself alone on a sandbar in the Platte after its thousands of companions
departed the roost one morning. In short order, half a dozen Bald Eagles
(adults and immatures) gathered on sandbars and logs near the injured crane.
One by one they repeatedly made flying passes at the crane but were driven off
as it defended itself with only its formidable beak. After about 30 minutes,
the eagles gave up and moved off.
So my overall impression is that Golden Eagles can successfully prey on a
flying crane (at least when the conditions are right) but that even an injured
crane is a bit too much for Bald Eagles – though they may give it a try now and
then, and maybe even rarely succeed.
Ken
Ken Strom
Audubon Colorado
Boulder
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
