[Bristol-Birds] more details about engle attack at Bluff City nest
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2016 20:25:02 -0500
Since there is difficulty in attaching the
video of the eagle encounter at the
Bluff City nest, I am sending a more
detailed written version.
Just after 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 2 March 2016,
a Bald Eagle that appears to be a
third year bird, made a violent attack on
an adult eagle incubating at the Bluff City, TN
nest in eastern Sullivan County. There were
no injuries. The attack lasted just a few seconds
before the intruder was driven away.
Below are still photos of the encounter with the
first showing the aggressor dropping in from
above with talons extended to strike the bird on the
nest. The second photo shows the incubating
adult getting the advantage over the attacking eagle.
A more complete series of the fight captured from
live video shows the incubating eagle aware of the
pending attack. It stretched its neck upwards, pointing
its beak and calling at the approaching bird.
The nest bird spread its wings, rolled to its back in the
nest and struck upwards with its talons. They tumbled
across the nest to the east and then up to the rim
of the west side of the nest. The two birds went over
the backside of the nest down into the branches below
the rim but not out of view. The intruder escaped to
a higher branch and fled, flying towards the river
below in the direction of Dry Branch Rd.
The resident eagle scampered back over the rim to the
top of the nest and inspected the contents before
spending the rest of the day apparently incubating. An
egg should hatch within days.
Several frames of the encounter reveal
the intruder to have a dark eye line
behind the eye (we call that mascara),
much white in the wings and back,
with whiteish tail and a dark band at
the terminus. The nesting birds have
solid white heads and pure white tail
feathers.
The mate of the incubating bird was
evidently not nearby and did not show
up in the video.
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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