Flash: Eagles can swim

Posted by PiedType ⋅ March 23, 2012 ⋅ 9 Comments

Eagles can swim. Who knew? Apparently a lot of people. But it came as news to me. Well, there’s a first time for everything.

This footage came from Mallard Lakes subdivision in Baton Rouge, LA, and is currently making the rounds on the Internet. Someone in the area shot a nutria (looks like a cross between a beaver and a giant rat) and left it floating in the water. A hungry bald eagle was determined get it and displayed some remarkable problem-solving. A search of YouTube turned up several videos of swimming eagles, so this incident is not unique. But it’s still interesting to see.

The following video from Lake Minnitaki, Canada, was posted in 2009. This eagle’s butterfly stroke probably wouldn’t beat Michael Phelps, but it’s pretty impressive.

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Old editors never die, they just revert to type

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Discussion

9 Responses to “Flash: Eagles can swim”

Being that Bald Eagles are also referred to as fish eagles and that’s their primary food, they better be able to swim! Cool video.

Posted by Jack Elliott | March 24, 2012, 12:18 am MDT

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- I realized that later. They eat mostly fish and they pluck them out of the water, etc. Makes perfect sense. I’d just never seen this before.
  
  Posted by PiedType | March 24, 2012, 1:05 am MDT
  
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  - I’ve never seen it either. That video of the eagle swimming was neat to see!
    
    Posted by Jack Elliott | March 24, 2012, 1:08 am MDT
    
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PT, this is amazing footage! I had no idea! Thank you for teaching me something new today…

Posted by kateshrewsday | March 24, 2012, 6:26 am MDT

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Oh, wow! Especially the top one. My eyes were as big as platters when he landed in the water and started swimming. Absolutely amazing!

Posted by She speaks.... | March 24, 2012, 11:11 am MDT

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- That guy must have been really hungry. I was afraid he’d drown trying to get that meal.
  
  Posted by PiedType | March 24, 2012, 12:44 pm MDT
  
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Okay, the “fish eagle” thing makes sense, but still… This is so cool!

Posted by IzaakMak | March 26, 2012, 11:34 am MDT

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- I agree. I’ve always known they live around water and I actually spent an afternoon watching them pluck fish from a lake. And STILL it never occurred to me that they could do this.
  
  Posted by PiedType | March 26, 2012, 4:16 pm MDT
  
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