Bald Eagle Attacks Swan
I did not take the photos of the eagle attacking the swan, they were taken by Kelly Munday.
It's another one of those viral photo series filling up inboxes--almost as popular as the Golden Eagle vs Fox series. I get sent stuff like this from time to time and it rarely has the name of the photographer and each email seems to have a different location for where the photos were taken, so I like to take time to see if I can figure out the back story before posting them in the blog. And now, I present in the same vain as Bald Eagle vs Sandhill Crane a bald eagle attacking a swan--with photos taken by Kelly Munday at Waterlily Bay Resort:
Yes, that is an adult bald eagle attempting to grab and kill a fully grown swan...I believe its a trumpeter swan and not a tundra swan or mute swan. I don't see any yellow on the bill that you would see with a tundra swan or orange that you would see on a mute swan. The bill on the swan in the photos, looks big and chunky like you would see on a trumpeter.
Check out the size different between the eagle vs the swan. If it is in fact a trumpeter swan, then its average weight would be about 20 pounds, the average weight of a bald eagle would be around 10 pounds. If that eagle is able to grab and kill the swan, it will have to eat it where the swan body lands on the ground--eagles are only able to carry roughly half their weight when in flight.
Alas, there is not a lot of info to go with the photos (like was there a trumpeting sound coming from the swan, clinching its id as a trumpeter swan). The website that posted the photos just has the photographer's name (Kelly Munday) but no more about what initiated the attack, the end result, or how long it lasted.
I can only guess from the photos that like the bald eagle with the sandhill crane interaction we witnessed this past March, this swan got away. However, was the swan mortally wounded? Did the eagle continue the chase out of the view of the photographer? Again, you can see the entire photo series here and read a quote from the photographer here.
I've heard more than one birder wish that bald eagles would figure out how to attack and kill the non native (in the US) mute swan (my photo above taken at the World Series of Birding in Cape May, NJ). Mute swans are a big threat to wetlands when they show up, they destroy the vegetation native ducks need for food and nesting and have even been observed killing smaller ducks that wander into their territory. From time to time, I get email press releases asking me to protest mute swan eradication programs, but I can't get on board with it. Like starlings and house sparrows, mute swans are an introduced species and causing problems with our native wildlife--it's not pretty to watch one kill a teal. I wonder if these same groups would be just as quick to protest starling, house sparrow and rock pigeon eradication programs or they just jump on board with mute swans because they look pretty (arguably prettier than our native trumpeter swans and tundra swans)?
We saw quite a few mute swans while in Cape May. Above is a flummoxed animal control officer trying to figure out what to do with a mute swan taking refuge in a neighborhood. This younger swan had been pushed out of the nearby ponds by nesting adult mute swans. Every time it went back it was chased and even flew into some power lines. The animal control officer was trying to figure out if he should get it to a vet or try to find a pond without mute swans.
The mute swan question is not easy to answer, but if our native ducks, rails, smaller herons and other waterfowl have to compete with the mute swans for food and territory, a management system will have to be put in place to deal with them.
It's another one of those viral photo series filling up inboxes--almost as popular as the Golden Eagle vs Fox series. I get sent stuff like this from time to time and it rarely has the name of the photographer and each email seems to have a different location for where the photos were taken, so I like to take time to see if I can figure out the back story before posting them in the blog. And now, I present in the same vain as Bald Eagle vs Sandhill Crane a bald eagle attacking a swan--with photos taken by Kelly Munday at Waterlily Bay Resort:
Yes, that is an adult bald eagle attempting to grab and kill a fully grown swan...I believe its a trumpeter swan and not a tundra swan or mute swan. I don't see any yellow on the bill that you would see with a tundra swan or orange that you would see on a mute swan. The bill on the swan in the photos, looks big and chunky like you would see on a trumpeter.
Check out the size different between the eagle vs the swan. If it is in fact a trumpeter swan, then its average weight would be about 20 pounds, the average weight of a bald eagle would be around 10 pounds. If that eagle is able to grab and kill the swan, it will have to eat it where the swan body lands on the ground--eagles are only able to carry roughly half their weight when in flight.
Alas, there is not a lot of info to go with the photos (like was there a trumpeting sound coming from the swan, clinching its id as a trumpeter swan). The website that posted the photos just has the photographer's name (Kelly Munday) but no more about what initiated the attack, the end result, or how long it lasted.
I can only guess from the photos that like the bald eagle with the sandhill crane interaction we witnessed this past March, this swan got away. However, was the swan mortally wounded? Did the eagle continue the chase out of the view of the photographer? Again, you can see the entire photo series here and read a quote from the photographer here.
I've heard more than one birder wish that bald eagles would figure out how to attack and kill the non native (in the US) mute swan (my photo above taken at the World Series of Birding in Cape May, NJ). Mute swans are a big threat to wetlands when they show up, they destroy the vegetation native ducks need for food and nesting and have even been observed killing smaller ducks that wander into their territory. From time to time, I get email press releases asking me to protest mute swan eradication programs, but I can't get on board with it. Like starlings and house sparrows, mute swans are an introduced species and causing problems with our native wildlife--it's not pretty to watch one kill a teal. I wonder if these same groups would be just as quick to protest starling, house sparrow and rock pigeon eradication programs or they just jump on board with mute swans because they look pretty (arguably prettier than our native trumpeter swans and tundra swans)?
We saw quite a few mute swans while in Cape May. Above is a flummoxed animal control officer trying to figure out what to do with a mute swan taking refuge in a neighborhood. This younger swan had been pushed out of the nearby ponds by nesting adult mute swans. Every time it went back it was chased and even flew into some power lines. The animal control officer was trying to figure out if he should get it to a vet or try to find a pond without mute swans.The mute swan question is not easy to answer, but if our native ducks, rails, smaller herons and other waterfowl have to compete with the mute swans for food and territory, a management system will have to be put in place to deal with them.
Labels: Cape May, Holy Crap, mute swan, viral bird photos
posted by birdchick at 6:17 PM
22 Comments:
Whoa...just...whoa.
I watched a juvenile Bald Eagle do the same thing to an adult Great Blue Heron not far from here about 3 months ago. It didn't last long, and he never connected very well, but did take quite a few aggressive passes at the heron. At the time I just chalked it up to a youth getting used to his new body and trying to bully anything in sight, even if it was bigger than himself (which the heron did at least appear larger). But if all these adults are doing it too, maybe they just were having a bad couple days of fishing.
I grew up on Long Island where mute swans are an absolute plague. And I admit, I always wondered how the cygnets would taste (the adults would probably be too muscular). No-one's suggested that as a control, though.
OOPS. (My link will show you why.)
Ok; sure it's life & death (well, if the eagle had it's way) but man those shots are gorgeous to look at! The wingspread's and posture of the respective birds in relation to each other. Absolutely beautiful high drama.
Any thoughts on this?
I'm still trying to figure out how a swan could kill a duck.
*gulp*
Maybe I should stop now.
I did a little google-fu and found the following quote from the photographer:
"The outcome of the event was fine for the swan, it managed to get away and flew down to the water. We were at the mouth of the Lakelse River April 21, 2008 when I captured the photos."
Actual link found here:
http://www.pbase.com/akacake/guestbook
We have 4 mute swans where I do rehab work, and there is never agression towards any other waterfowl. I would say that if there is a problem it needs handled responsibly, not like most places deal with canada geese i.e killing them. Its a tragedy that species that we introduced have to be made locally extinct. Lets say we do shoot them, if they arent killed immediately, theyre going to end up at a rehab center making my job even harder.
Mr. McSick
I appreciate what you do as a wildlife rehabber and have even volunteered my time to pick up injured wildlife and spent a few summers in an avian nursery. I'm sure you know that birds in captivity undergoing recovery do not behave the same as they would in the wild. So, you couldn't base mute swan behavior with native waterfowl in captivity as to what you might see in the wild.
There IS documented behavior of mute swans attacking waterfowl:
From the Chesapeake Watershed:
"In the early 1990s, a molting flock of between 600 to 1,000 mute swans utilized a beach area, Barren Island (off of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge), as a loafing site. This same site was the last remaining nesting site for black skimmers (Rynchops niger) and the last natural nesting site for least terns (Sterna antilarum) in Maryland. The mute swan activity crushed eggs and young of birds nesting in the beach colony, which led to the black skimmers and least terns abandoning this area for three nesting seasons (Maryland DNR files)."
Also from the Maryland DNR:
"Observations in Maryland and findings reported in scientific literature support the fact that territorial mute swans can be very aggressive towards other waterfowl, displacing native species from their breeding and foraging habitats.
Not only do they displace native waterfowl from breeding and staging habitats, they have been reported to attack, injure, or kill other wetland birds."
There's also an interesting article from the early 90s in the Auk where mute swans were observed going after black ducks, herons, gulls and even Canada geese.
Growing up in Iowa, in the cemetary across the street, there was a pair of Mute Swans in one of the ponds there. I don't recall exaclty why they were put there, but they were permanent residents. Shortly after we moved to IL, we read in the paper there about two young teenage boys that went there at night and stoned the swans to death. The boys were arrested, but I don't recall what if any punishment was administered.
Extraordinary photos!
Wanted to share a link to an article I just came across regarding these photos: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1165655.ece
this is cool along the same lines
So I guess the eagle did not get to eat that morning. Unless it got lucky with something else.
I received an email today, with the same pictures as this blog, but with the following wording:
Swans are an introduced exotic invasive species from Europe. Because they are pretty, authorities are reluctant to control them, despite their detrimental effects on native water fowl. Well, here's an organic non-chemical means of controlling them. We just need to get more of an Eagle program going. Page below to see nature's controls in action. Y-Man
These photos were taken recently by myself Tom Carver, I live on Lakelse Lake just outside of Terrace, B.C..
I own The Water Lily Bay Resort, I also feed the swans on the lake all the time!
Eagles are very common in this area too. These are amazing photos!
Enjoy!
SO, Whom do you believe?
Not all swans in North America are introduced and invasive. Trumpeter swans and tundra swans naturally occur in North America. Mute swans do not occur here, are introduced, and causing several problems for native wildlife.
If you look at the swan being attacked by the eagle, the head shape and bill color are NOT consistent for mute swan. If you note the mute swan photo further down in the blog entry, you will note the orange bill.
So, who do you believe?
Well, you have your choice of someone forwarding an email with no back ground in birds or the writer of this blog who has been studying birds over 25 years and lives in a state where she sees native trumpeter and tundra swans and can tell the difference between those native species and an introduced mute swan.
I have a series of photos I took last year of a bald eagle attacking an adult great blue heron. I have attached the url to my name. The heron appears to flip the eagle on its back and make its getaway. There are also photos there of a peregrine attacking black backed gulls who took over its prey.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
There's someone else claiming credit for the swan/eagle photos in an email that's going around. Here is what the message says: "These photos were taken recently by me, Tom Carver.I live on Lakelse Lake just outside of Terrace, B.C. I own The Water Lily Bay Resort and I also feed the swans on the lake all the time!"
Will the real bird photographer please stand up?
I am Kelly Munday the real photographer. The fake person Tom Carver has tried to claim credit for my photos...not sure why??
Anyways, they were taken by myself in April 2008 on Lakelse Lake near Terrace BC. The birds are a bald eagle and a trumpeter swan, both common to Terrace. The series of pictures that I captured are unique in that no one has ever captured this event before. I have talked to other locals that say they have seen signs of a struggle but no witnesses. The whole story can be read here
http://www.terracedaily.ca/cgi-bin/show_articles.cgi?ID=2851&TOPIC=0
There is a GROWING number of people (and a very vocal group, at that) that see no distinction between native and nonnative. For example, they were interested in having the coyotes controlled that were eating feral cats at a California University. In my mind they really don't care about species survival, they are only concerned that MAN not do any of the killing. Another example, they don't want feral cats euthanized but do not care about the small mammals, lizards, or birds killed by the cats, or for that matter, all the factory farmed livestock that goes into cat food. They say cat predation is 'natural', when you and I know it is nothing of the sort. It is this disconnect we need to address. Native wildlife SHOULD have precendence over exotic, and species survival must trump individual lives. You can and should control cowbirds to allow Kirtland's Warblers to survive, you should control feral cats to allow native birds to survive. But I fear we are losing this battle.
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