Last Friday, March 28th, I went birding on Sauvie Island, near Portland.
At the county line, on Reeder Road, I saw one of those dramas that we
occasionally are luckily enough to observe.

Three young Bald Eagles (1st and 2nd year birds) were cooperatively
attacking a lone Canada Goose. They would take turns swooping at the goose
forcing it to dive beneath the water to escape. Interestingly enough,
there were three other bald eagles that participated in the attack as well,
then left after one or two swoops at the unfortunate goose. The oldest
bird was a sub-adult with a mostly white head and tail. There were a
maximum of five birds harrassing the goose at on point. The eagles
continued this for about fifteen minutes, exhausting the goose until it was
no longer able to evade their swoops. After a couple of failed graps with
their talons, one of the birds seized the goose by the head, managed to
carry it about fifteen feet, then either lost its grip or had to drop such
a heavy burden back into the water. From this point on, the goose was
motionless in the water, until one of the birds managed to carry it to a
shallow area on the side of the pond. When I left, one of the birds was
standing on the goose, holding it under the water, while the other two
eagles stood nearby. At least two of the other eagles, which had at one
time or another attacked the goose, were perched in a large nearby tree,
but did not seem interested in the kill.

This is the first example I have seen of what appears to me to be eagles
cooperating on a kill. Does anyone have any similar anecdotes?

Tim

Tim Shelmerdine
Lake Oswego/Aurora, Oregon
shelmert at mail.clackesd.k12.or.us