Reader Mark Sturtevant sent me this video on Yahoo News, but I found it on YouTube so I could embed it. It shows three crafty ducks living up to their names by diving when a bald eagle attacks them eight times. This took place in Colorado, and the video is courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and all I know beyond this is that it took place in Lakewood, Colorado.
My only question is why the eagle didn’t use its talons and try to pluck them from beneath the surface, but they may have been too deep for that.
Look at those canny ducks! I’m not sure they’re mallards; if you can identify them please do so below. And I think that eagle should stick to catching fish.
That was my question. They can certainly pull salmon from under the surface. I think it might be that the eagle was using a “on the surface” attack and was unable to adjust to presume the target would be below the surface at the point of the attack even after repeated attempts.
Perhaps a Corvid would have figured it out.
Years ago while vacationing on Hornby Island (off the coast of Vancouver Island, BC) I got lucky and watched and eagle take a fish from the ocean. The angle of attack was quite different than the one the eagle was using in this clip. The fish was also very close to the surface, hard to say how deep those ducks dove.
Although corvids are extraordinarily good at problem solving they don’t catch prey by grasping it in their talons so in this case I think a crow or raven would have fared no better than the eagle.
Those look like Pied-billed Grebes, which are known to dive for foraging and when in danger:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied-billed_grebe
Or maybe an American Coot
Much more like coots than grebes, I think. Pied-billed grebe are great at going deep and far to evade danger. These ducks merely duck like mallards would.
I can’t tell for sure but they look like coots to me from their movements. I don’t think coots typically dive that deep or for long. As I recall, one of the WEIT readers is a coot expert: perhaps he’ll weigh in!
A few years ago I was at London Bridge in Lake Havasu, AZ. The water below the bridge is very clear. American Coots were paddling about and diving all the way to the bottom, 10-20 feet deep.
In the video I can’t tell if they are coots, or how deep they are diving.
Yeah, I’m now leaning coot, especially with their necks out front as they move and, as you noted, because Grebes stay underwater longer.
I agree. That white bill and dark plumage looks like a coot.
The line in that Tennyson poem about “nature, red in [beak] and claw” is all wet this time around.
They don’t call it duck for nothing!
Yes – duck by name and duck by nature! Maybe the bald eagle was a juvenile? Or else not very bright…
Not a juvenile. White head and all marking of an adult. Usually takes 3 years or more to reach this stage.
This is why one should say “everybody submerge” if one is speaking to ducks and one wants them to duck. Otherwise it could be confusing for the ducks if one should say “everybody duck”.
Will try to remember that – it could be a matter of life or depth.
My pun (below 8) is better than yours!
Yes, if the eagle had attempted to plunge in deep, it would have come to a screeching halt. The eagle expended a bunch of energy on this attempt, so it suggests that it’s somewhat young and inexperienced. I think it was hoping for that one duck that wasn’t paying attention.
Yes. It looks like it is not quite an adult.
That eagle needs a “wingman” to distract the ducks.
Or one eagle to force the ducks under, then the other to come in as they surface, air sacs a-bursting. (Being theropod dinosaurs, ducks have a considerably more complex respiration system than the primitive mammalian “in and out” system ; where they feel their “breath” reflex isn’t obvious.)
They are most likely Grebes, not ducks. I have seen them do this often if an eagle or other bird is diving on them.
The western grebe I’ve watched would not behave this way. They dive deep when danger approaches and come up 50 feet away.
The ones in Iowa act just like these are doing. As I said, I have seen it many times.
file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/pbgrebe%20(1).pdf
I will certainly defer to your experience with pied-billed grebes. I’ve been watching western and Clark’s grebes lately. Come to think of it, it is noteworthy that these birds do not attempt to fly. Our grebes not only don’t fly when approached during the summer, but actually cannot fly. They simply live on the water until they regain their flying skill and migrate in the fall.
Yes, all I can tell ya is I grew up in Iowa and lived on a lake for several years. Grebes were always around, and frankly I did not know the specific variety.
Eagles hang around the water for fish. They love fish but are usually looking for dead fish. When the ice would start to go out on the lake the Eagles would come in large numbers. Lots of dead fish froze into the ice and the Eagles love that. I have seen as many as 100 Eagles at one time if lots of dead fish in the ice. I think the eagles have cell phones.
At least they suffered no grebeous bodily harm!
I just saw a couple of baldies fly over the house. I’m always impressed. They are big birds.
I don’t know the kind of duck. I don’t think they are fully diving ducks or grebes since they only submerge for a few seconds. True divers, like bufflehead can stay down for several minutes and swim underwater considerable distance. I bet these are dabblers that only ‘duck’ under and up again. Now, if the eagle had more maneuverability, he would probably be able to make a quick spin around and grab one.
As a hunter in my youth they look and act like buffleheads I encountered. They could dive before the shot from my gun got to them.
Do grebes form flocks? Not sure.
I am watching it zoomed in, and I have tried to freeze the action to see if the birds resolve better. I get duckish shapes, and pixels that suggest white markings near the rear of the bird targets. But that could be dithering to increase contrast in the recording.
Maybe others can do better.
They may be coots because bald eagles often go after coots and use a variety of approaches. A couple of months ago I took my ornithology class on a field trip to a wetland in Central California and we saw an amazing set of interactions between an adult bald eagle and a bunch of coots.
The eagle was soaring in the distance and all of the snow geese and ducks went into the air and went to a different part of the wetland leaving only about 1000 coots on the body of water in front of us. The eagle then approached in a low glide and targeted one coot, which it made repeatedly dive. A film maker I know saw eagles back east catch coots by making them dive repeatedly until they can no long dive for lack of air and then grab them. I think this eagle was trying this.
The eagle eventually gave up and then approached a fairly tight group of several 100 coots, who then rapidly and dramatically formed a super dense group that looked like “baitball” of fish (when fish form balls in the face of predation). It then repeated this with another group of coots, which did the same thing, and the eagle gave up and went to a smaller group of coots. One coot made a run for it and the eagle grabbed it off the water, landed nearby on a spit of dirt and proceeded to pluck and eat it. A great blue heron then flew in and repeatedly tried to steal some of the coot remains.
Yes, look like Coots to me also.
I would think that an eagle travelling as fast as this one would be unable to grab prey below the surface. If it was even able to latch on, it would immediately face-plant. When I’ve seen an eagle grab a salmon, I think they go much slower. At least that’s how I remember it from nature videos.
I suspect the attack mode we see in the video is one that only works if a duck fails to dive. Perhaps the eagle eventually wears them down or the ducks are sometimes inattentive and the eagle is playing the odds. Of course, the eagle could just be tormenting the ducks.
I knew I’d forgotten something. Just the thing for drifting lazily along on mirror-calm water. Full volume recommended, to get you relaxed.
Hard to tell from the images but the calls are definitely coot.
Dead right! I heard one this morning on the Regengts Canal by the Guardian building. Never thought to put the sound on…
Bruce called it!
Just before Christmas while at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge south of Tallahassee, FL, we watched an adult Bald Eagle make several attempts at a flying Tri-color Heron and then snatch it out of the air.
Maybe the eagle is trying to drive the other birds away so it can catch some fish. The fish are probably under the ice.
If only the eagle could hover, then when they (quackers) returned to the surface they’d be ‘sitting ducks’.
rz
Pretty sure those are coots. They’re feisty little guys and can submerge very quickly like that.
I often see bald eagles and northern harriers hunting for ducks along the creek on my place, but only during duck hunting season. I believe they’re looking for cripples (ducks that have been wounded). I’ve wondered why they don’t attack healthy ducks, which are abundant, and now I know.
I believe you hit on the correct idea. Eagles may be looking for injured ducks or geese and go after them. Normally would not be trying for healthy animals. Eagles are not aggressive hunters and often settle for already killed leftovers. I have seen vultures chase eagles away from dead animals.
I thought the Japanese appropriated tempura from the Portuguese.