I was out at Double bluff park on Whidbey Island today. I walked about 3
miles south and a Juv. eagle spent the better part of 20 minutes seriously
trying to grab some bufflehead for lunch. About a dozen feisty little ducks
easily out maneuvered the predator and it was like a game of whack a mole,
only played by somebody really slow. The eagle was using the wind to soar
aloft and when it dove for a duck, they would dive, then as the eagle
regained a bit of altitude they would all pop up within a few seconds of
each other. It appeared the eagle had a hard time singling out a victim
although I noticed that the ducks were all pretty evenly spaced apart, yet
still close enough to be a sort of group. After several minutes of not even
coming close I thought the eagle would give up. It did soar higher and off
shore a bit, then dropped down and rode the wind really fast and low to the
water. That didn't work either. As I was walking back I came across a
group of mallards, which surprised me as I rarely see them on Salt water. I
would imagine those would have been a much easier target. I wondered about
what the predator prey identification learning curve is. Do eagles
discriminate between species, learning which ones are easier to catch? If
so, today's eagle learned Buffleheads are not a good choice.



Rob Sandelin

Naturalist, Writer, Teacher