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Bald Eagles are HUGE. You don't realize it until one drops out of a tree near you and flies off. Either that or you see them feeding on road kill deer.
by wiredfool 6y ago
Bald Eagles are HUGE.
You don't realize it until one drops out of a tree near you and flies off. Either that or you see them feeding on road kill deer.
- wirrbel 6y agoI am always reminded of this meme https://img.ifunny.co/images/70898eeb8bc2323e320aca74b03bb9aa3bcb8a5fd3586abe0137fb1751afaf3a_1.jpg https://img.ifunny.co/images/70898eeb8bc2323e320aca74b03bb9a... "Basically a glorified seagull"
- asdff 6y agoHonestly, seagulls are huge birds too. Male bald eagle has about the same wingspan as a seagull (5-6 feet).
- globular-toast 6y agoHerring gulls also live for 30-40 years.
- wirrbel 6y agoIf you look up the numbers the Wedge Tail Eagle has the same wing span as the bald eagle.
- globular-toast 6y agoSo it's basically "my bird could beat up your bird". In the UK our national bird is the Robin :)
- arethuza 6y agoSounds like the couple of times I've seen white tailed eagles near where I live in Scotland - I can see why they are called "flying barn doors".
- danaliv 6y agoI get fly-bys from bald eagles in the traffic pattern at an airport I frequent. Even from the cockpit they look enormous. Definitely don’t want one of those monsters to wind up on a leading edge. Incidentally it’s interesting how many raptors seem to like hanging around in airport traffic patterns. I realize there’s a bit of a selection bias here, but I do work at similar altitudes away from airports and sightings aren’t nearly as common out in the field. I like to think they’re reminding the metal birds who’s boss.
- bengale 6y agoI used to have an office that overlooked an airport (in the UK), and I used to watch the birds of prey taking rabbits off the grass surrounding the runways. Seemed to be a lot of them on there, I guess since its a fairly big area where they don't get disturbed.
- danaliv 6y agoI've wondered if it's something like that—a wide open space where the prey is easier to see.
- soperj 6y agoLikely to do with hot tarmac making it easier to catch a upward current.
- danaliv 6y agoFunny thing is I never see them (or any other raptors) thermaling over pavement, not even factoring in a thermal getting skewed by wind.
- sethammons 6y agoWait til you see Golden Eagles :) We have a mating pair of Balds and it is fun to watch their young get bigger and then take off. Every year around the same time, we have a giant Golden that cruises around the lake and forest. The first time I saw it, I couldn't believe how big it was. Like, over a 7ft wingspan. I realize Balds are close, but this Golden one is a monster.
- dboreham 6y agoCame to say the same thing: Bald Eagles are I think regular sized. Golden Eagles are like "whoa, someone zoomed that eagle to 3X".
- SigmundA 6y agoThere is variation, some balds are bigger too especially more north. Generally though the two are almost identical in size: https://www.avianreport.com/bald-eagle-wingspan-versus-birds-prey/ https://www.avianreport.com/bald-eagle-wingspan-versus-birds...
- gcheong 6y agoThere's some video on YouTube of Golden Eagles pulling young mountain goats off mountain cliffs to kill for food. On the flip-side, seeing our "majestic" Baldies scavenging for food at an Alaskan trash dump like a common seagull was a bit incongruous with my image of them until that point as well.
- kirubakaran 6y agoWait till you see Albatrosses :) 11ft wingspan :-p
- wiredfool 6y agoAn albatross isn't likely to drop out of a fir and fly off in a huff while I'm figuring out why the chickens are seriously unhappy. Also, semi off topic -- Great horned owls like using inflatable pools as bird baths.
- 6y ago
- yardie 6y agoI didn't realize how large they were. But I saw one at the top of an electrical tower and from the ground it was large but not gigantic. Much later on they took the nest down and it was the size of a Mini! Yes, the British car.