Eagles dine opportunistically, but it is interesting to consider what factors might be relevant if more than one eagle covets a particular food item, i.e., there are more eagles than opportunities. With one bald eagle firmly in possession of a choice fish carcass on a Halibut Cove beach, it wasn't obvious to observers how disagreements might be resolved when another eagle approached, and then more, and then a lot more, arrived. There were ultimately 21 visible eagles in the near vicinity.

The images below and in the next post depict some of the resulting conflicts. The participants displayed no discernible clues about gender, size, strength, or hierarchical status, except all the contenders appeared to be adults (with fully white heads and tails, even though a few immature eagles flew overhead).  

Hanover Bald Eagle Study Blog No. 8 (Jan. 24, 2019), in discussing an observed conflict among three bald eagles over a freshly caught fish, stated: 

One study investigating conflict between bald eagles discovered that actual physical contact is rare, with strikes occurring only 2% of the time out of 541 observed “pirating” events. This being said, it is not uncommon for rehabilitation centers to receive bald eagles with puncture wounds from antagonistic interactions with other eagles, though these events are rarely fatal. Size, level of hunger, and positioning (attacking from the air vs. ground) are the main predictors of victory in a food-related eagle skirmish. Surprisingly, age has not been shown to make much of a difference in the outcome.

These photos depict the feast on the beach.  It becomes obvious why the eagle in possession, depicted in the last post, was watchful.

Arrivals:

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Overshadowing wings: 131A5618

Displacement results, at least temporarily:

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Stay tuned: more to come.