Bald Eagle Attack

[Srbenda]

I did not witness this personally, but my wife called me yesterday to tell me that she had chased off a bald eagle.

Our 2 surviving ducks have made friends with a pair of Canada geese, and they hang out together for a good part of the day. (It also helps that they get a little bit of corn) Early in the afternoon, she heard a tremendous racket made by the geese, and looked out and saw a bald eagle swooping above them. As it happened, they were under some trees on the edge of the pond, which probably saved them.

She ran outside and the eagle flew off.

The geese, being the smarter ones recognized the threat, but apparently our ducks were too dull to notice anything was amiss.

This was certainly not something on my predator list. I thought that hawks would be an issue for the ducklings, but I did not think our full grown ducks would be in danger during the day from a bald eagle!

Anyone had this type of predation?

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

No, but no one believes us when we say our main predator is a raven. Last year a hawk hung around but the raven chased him off. Eagles are mostly a prob in Valdez, a town near the ocean here in AK. There are eagles EVERYWHERE there, heaven to me since i love them!

glad your duckies are okay

 

[Mum]

Well, I'm in the UK, so bald eagles are not on my predator list.

But, WOW!!! I'm in two minds here between - uck, another predator to worry about and - how exciting to have see a bald eagle!!!!!

Geese are great "guard dogs"; hope they stay frequent visitors as it seems they have alerted your wife to potential danger.

 

[armdchicken]

the bald eagle might have a nest nearby, only reason i can think its getting your fowl. normally they would eat rabbits and such...sorry to hear about your loss

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

come up here to AK, you'll see eagles fighting over food like 10 feet from you not caring the least bit, I once counted 7 eagles in one spot

Be careful, if that thing makes a nest near that area (now it thinks it has a food source) it will pretty much kill you if you come near its nest, eagles get mean when it comes to nesting, wouldnt actually kill you but it can do damage

 

[Srbenda]

the bald eagle might have a nest nearby, only reason i can think its getting your fowl. normally they would eat rabbits and such...sorry to hear about your loss

I didn't lose any to the eagle...yet.

There are plenty of other Canada geese around, so I am hoping it goes elsewhere if it decides it wants a goose...

 

[larkflying]

"Maybe the eagle was just thinking . . . hmm. What if I could get an easy snack . . . and then it realized that there wasn't going to be anything."

We have a nest of bald eagles near our property, and while they always check out the fowl, they usually go onto easier prey. We are lucky to have a bunch of trees so the birds can get undercover. Our ducks were raised with the geese, and in danger they all flock together (although the geese probably wouldn't try to save a duck, they put up with them anyway) and rush for the nearest tree or building.

The eagles / hawks / and ravens are beautiful - I love watching them. I'd prefer all of them over coyotes or neighbor dogs any day . . . and I like having the crows and ravens around because they do a great job of mobbing the raptors . . . although I am searching for a way to keep them from stealing the duck eggs that they lay in the middle of the field . .

 

[TLWR]

If we were still in Kodiak, AK, I'd not have ducks. Several people have chickens there, but they aren't exactly free range.
Are there lots of eagles in your area? If it comes back, you might want to consider a covered enclosure for the ducks and the 2 visitor geese.





This was just in one tree, I didn't quickly find the pic where I had several loaded tress in my picture and there were easily 50 eagles in the pic


They would just sit up in the trees in our back yard (this wasn't a tree in our yard), no way would I have considered ducks there

 

[m.kitchengirl]

I agree with larkflying - better than coyotes, foxes & the like.
I have also come to appreciate the crows. They alert me when I am outside & distracted.
I have two bald eagles that fly almost daily over the house. We have a lot of raptors.
The eagles just fly over to the large fields behind the house - so far.

I am sure the neighbors think I am the crazy duck lady, craning my neck sideways like they do every time a bird flies over.
I am turning into a bird watcher since I got the ducks.
I have also decided to modify my "free ranging" to be a large secure yard with moveable fencing around the outside this year. I know that there is always a risk of predation, but I am want more control over their free range. The ducks are easily herded to gardens when I am out there with them & want them to go after my garden pests, root up old crops, etc.

Edited to add - TLWR, I would not even want to leave the house if there were THAT many eagles in my trees & I concur - I would NOT have ducks!
My word! All that competition for food - I would worry for my cat!

 

[Iain Utah]

I find this thread interesting as I have recently had a bald eagle set up a nest in my backyard (we also have more hawks and magpies that I can count too). I have been watching it target rodent sized critters for food but I worry about my ducks safety... so they don't go outside unless in a covered run with supervision. I didn't go through all the trouble to hatch and raise babies to have them become food for the wild birds.

Here is my newest resident: