From Lake Mattamuskeet Wildlife Refuge last week. I initially spotted the eagle in a tree overlooking some of the managed marsh areas of the refuge. Got out of my truck to photograph it, but noticed a hawk (red tail, I think) flying low across the marsh and went for it instead. By the time I got a bead on it and released the shutter, this is the image I got. I'm still not sure if the hawk actually hit the eagle, or just harassed it enough to flush it from its perch. Happened so fast! Heavily cropped and sharpened up a little.
Nice to see this Ed. It is interesting that smaller birds seem often to ignore the larger size and power of the bird they perceive as a threat. This seems odd until you think about the chances of the larger bird retaliating, which is probably close to nil. There are not many predatory birds that are capable of taking another bird on the wing, so this Red-tail is probably quite safe. Same for Eastern Kingbirds chasing Red-tails or crows harrassing ravens. Where a chasing bird may be at risk is if they decide to take on an accipiter or falcon for example. These species have incredible flight performance and can out-fly anything out there with the possible exception of swifts.
This is also an interesting image with respect to the difference in size of these two birds. A red-tail is not a small bird but the eagle is still significantly larger than the hawk. Very cool to see...
Hawk attacks Eagle--behavioral
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