# Bald Eagle family accidentally adopts Red-Tailed Hawk baby. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 8, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414 "2017-06-08T02:45:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/1 "2017-06-08T02:45:25Z")
An amazing thing is happening in my home town, here on Vancouver Island. A Bald Eagle raided a hawk’s nest and took a baby to feed their eaglets. But the hawk baby didn’t die and instead started begging for food and now the eagles are feeding it, too! > **[Bird experts surprised by red-tailed hawk chick surviving in bald-eagle nest](https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bird-experts-surprised-by-red-tailed-hawk-chick-surviving-in-bald-eagle-nest)** > > A red-tailed hawk chick is sharing nest with three bald-eagle chicks. What’s surprising is that bald-eagle parents are feeding the outsider. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/2 "2017-06-08T03:09:06Z")
Well, if you can’t eat 'em, join 'em! ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/3 "2017-06-08T03:13:25Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Well, if you can’t eat 'em, join 'em! Or fatten them up, \*then \*eat them. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/4 "2017-06-08T14:24:40Z")
Very cool story! I hope you come back to update: Does the hawk make it or was it a diabolical scheme to fatten him/her up? I hope the hawk makes it! BTW - Love Vancouver Island (and the San Juans and Gulf Islands). Lots of great biking and interesting history. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/5 "2017-06-15T18:59:16Z")
Well the little guy has been living with the eagles now for 2 weeks and he’s growing and doing great! His biggest danger is getting knocked out of the nest by his sibling’s giant wings flapping away. There are some great pictures in the link: [http://www.hancockwildlife.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=908803&mode=&show=8&page=20](http://www.hancockwildlife.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=908803&mode=&show=8&page=20) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/6 "2017-06-15T19:04:01Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > An amazing thing is happening in my home town, here on Vancouver Island. A Bald Eagle raided a hawk’s nest and took a baby to feed their eaglets. But the hawk baby didn’t die and instead started begging for food and now the eagles are feeding it, too! > > [Experts surprised red-tailed hawk chick surviving in bald-eagle nest. | Vancouver Sun](http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bird-experts-surprised-by-red-tailed-hawk-chick-surviving-in-bald-eagle-nest) The expert’s name is David Bird. Coincidence? I don’t think so!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/7 "2017-06-15T19:07:13Z")
That’s going to be one VERY confused hawk when it grows up… ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/8 "2017-06-15T19:14:39Z")
How different are the hunting styles and strategies of the two species? Do they learn to hunt from their parents? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/9 "2017-06-15T19:17:29Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > That’s going to be one VERY confused hawk when it grows up… “Sit down, Son. We have something we need to tell you. We think you should know.” “What is it, Dad?” “You’re adopted. You are truly our son and we love you completely, but we aren’t your biological parents.” “Wow… I guess that explains a few things.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/10 "2017-06-15T19:25:12Z")
The story of the Ugly Raptor. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/11 "2017-06-15T19:29:58Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > "Sit down, Son. We have something we need to tell you. It might go like Mr. Eagle saying, “Harriet, is there anything that you should tell me?” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/12 "2017-06-15T19:30:09Z")
“You mean I’m going to _stay_ this color‽” ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/13 "2017-06-15T19:32:20Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > How different are the hunting styles and strategies of the two species? Do they learn to hunt from their parents? Just going from my memory is that Hawks don’t teach the kids to hunt and just continue feeding them while they figure out on their own how to catch mice and snakes and such. I believe that once the baby hawk fledges, it will return to the nest to beg for food from its “parents” then go off and try hunting on its own. Which is to say that the hawk, if it can survive and successfully fledge, will not need to be taught by the eagles how to hunt. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/14 "2017-06-15T19:33:09Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > “Sit down, Son. We have something we need to tell you. We think you should know.” > > “What is it, Dad?” > > “You’re adopted. You are truly our son and we love you completely, but we aren’t your biological parents.” > > “Wow… I guess that explains a few things.” “I guess I was really lucky you took me in and raised me as your own. What happened to my hawk family?” AWKWARD ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/15 "2017-06-15T19:40:43Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Or fatten them up, \*then \*eat them. Like in one of the Twilight Zone show . But I hope the hawk doesn’t get eaten ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/16 "2017-06-15T19:46:13Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > How different are the hunting styles and strategies of the two species? Somewhat different. Both are soaring birds that mostly hunt from the air rather than a perch, but that’s about it. Bald Eagles are opportunists( happy to take carrion and anything they can catch ), but are primarily fish eaters - maybe 65-90% of the diet depending on the region. Red-Tailed Hawks are generalists, but live mostly off small mammals and only rarely take fish. > [@](#): > > Do they learn to hunt from their parents? Not much, if at all. Raptors are pretty much creatures of instinct, though they do learn by trial and error. Once they are fledged, that’s about it as far as parental care goes. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/17 "2017-06-15T19:57:06Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Once they are fledged, that’s about it as far as parental care goes. That’s actually wrong. They’ll feed them increasingly intermittently for a few weeks after, but there isn’t much training involved as such. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/18 "2017-06-15T20:05:13Z")
Do red-tailed hawks feed their young ones the same food Bald Eagles feed theirs? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/19 "2017-06-15T20:07:58Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do red-tailed hawks feed their young ones the same food Bald Eagles feed theirs? Roughly the same range, but much different proportions. Baby eagles would get a majority as fish, but with other critters mixed in. Baby hawks would get mostly small rodents, but with other critters mixed in. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414/20 "2017-06-15T20:09:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do red-tailed hawks feed their young ones the same food Bald Eagles feed theirs? Red-tailed hawks mostly eat small mammals like mice and shrews and small rabbits while Bald Eagles mostly eat fish, small and medium sized mammals like rabbits and raccoons and carrion. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bald-eagle-family-accidentally-adopts-red-tailed-hawk-baby/788414.md?page=2)