# HOLY CRAP! There was just a bald eagle on our back fence! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437 "2012-01-04T23:20:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/21 "2012-01-10T17:00:16Z")
And to think that Ben Franklin wanted our national bird to be the turkey. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/22 "2012-01-10T21:39:38Z")
Apparently, I live under a rock, so thanks, **Silver Fire**. I hadn’t seen it yet. These gopher guts - are they pooped out or regurgitated? My bald eagle sighting story (I’ve only seen one wild once) was when my parents and I were going to some tiny town outside Sherman, TX (I forget the name) and we missed our exit off I-35. Well, that’s the last exit in Texas, so as we’re crossing the Red River into Oklahoma I looked out over the water to see one soaring low and then landing in a tree. Biggest damn thing - it was mighty cool to see. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/23 "2012-01-10T23:10:15Z")
We’ve got a nesting pair living near the lake I live on (and at least one immature who hasn’t gotten the adult plumage yet). A few years ago one of them attempted to nab a Canada goose just off our shoreline. That was one wet, angry, undignified eagle. The mate sat on shore like, “I don’t know him”. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/24 "2012-01-11T00:51:39Z")
I’ve seen them wild several times - what a sight! Never really close, though. I walk the dogs at a nearby lake, and last year spotted what I thought was a bald eagle soaring over the water at a distance. Then I ran across a birdwatcher and asked him - he told me that the eagles sometimes came south in the state when the north got too frozen over for food availability. I saw that lone eagle several times, but never close up. Last year, someone around here shot and was subsequently charged for shooting a bald eagle. (It had a damaged wing but was rehabilitated by raptor rehabbers.) They are no longer considered an endangered species, but it is a federal offense to shoot or harm them: [http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/protect/laws.html](http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/protect/laws.html) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/25 "2012-01-11T02:42:26Z")
My closest encounter with a bald eagle was when one flew right over my head when I was riding my bike down the main street of Port Townshend, Washington. It was being chased by several seagulls, which I thought was rather odd. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/26 "2012-01-11T03:17:06Z")
Oh no, not odd at all, other fish eating birds will mob eagles because eagles will steal fish from them (if not kill them outright) and thus perceive them as enemies. I once saw an eagle get serially attacked by every osprey on the St. John’s River as it flew from territory to territory. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/27 "2012-01-11T12:42:00Z")
Not as exciting as the OP, however a few months ago I found an eagle eating a dove in our backyard. We live in suburbia and feed the birds so doves are common- eagles are not. I got pictures and it was a great talking point. This time of the year we get crowds of galahs- the pink and greys (which we like) and the corellas which are big, noisy and tear the yard apart. Fair dinkum, they dig up the grass- I imagine the are trying to locate the sunflower seeds. Our three legged cat tolerates the birds but he hates the corellas. Every now and then he will charge the corellas but will stop short of getting too close. This is safety first as they are bigger than him. So a few days back the corellas fly away and scream and I thought the cat may have charged them. I ran out to save his miserable butt and I looked up and the eagle was sitting on the clothes line looking at me. After shitting myself I dived back inside. PS. The cat slept through the whole episode. PPS. The eagle did a good job. The corellas haven’t been back. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/28 "2012-01-11T13:30:35Z")
The first time I ever saw one up close we were on an Alaskan float trip headed towards Skilak Lake when two were seen nesting just ahead on a riverbend. All of a sudden one dropped down and headed right towards us about ten feet off the water, pulling up and flying right overhead. It was an extraordinary experience and I thought I’d gotton a good close up pic. Weeks later, going through my pictures for the first time I was bummed to see he’d been so close and quick in passing that I’d missed him altogether until, I noticed there on the very edge about halfway up, a great big yellow eagle beak. Lucky you, all that get to observe these beauties more often. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/29 "2012-01-11T13:52:30Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Dropmom lives above the Hood Canal in Washington. After a couple days you start ranking bald eagles with pigeons anywhere else. When I lived in Alaska, they were ubiquitous. The best place for bald eagle viewing was at the dump, where they gathered by the dozens. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/30 "2012-01-11T23:10:12Z")
After surviving 20 years in El Paso, I relocated to Austin in 2005. The culture shock took a while to recover from, but I no longer stare openmouthed at the TV when I see a commercial recommending that I buy my children hunting rifles for Christmas. The fauna shock, however, particularly the avianfauna shock, will last me for years. At first it was just the songbirds. Cardinals. Bluejays. Wow! Birds that came in hues other than earth tones! I was pretty bowled over when a friend took me boating down on the lake and I was treated to the sight of a great blue heron. I got another shock when a sandhill crane (which I recognized from the El Paso Zoo) moved into our neighborhood. Even the damned vultures are impressive. I spotted one flapping on a rooftop one afternoon that looked just too damned big to be real. And, yes, we have bald eagles. There’s a mating pair with a giant nest not far from the Dell Headquarters in Round Rock. Sometimes they put on an airshow to entertain the commuters snarled far below on I-35. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/31 "2012-01-12T04:58:16Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Not as exciting as the OP, however a few months ago I found an eagle eating a dove in our backyard. We live in suburbia and feed the birds so doves are common- eagles are not. I got pictures and it was a great talking point. I used to watch the [Wedgetails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge-tailed_Eagle) on Kangaroo Island. Awesome, just awesome birds. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/32 "2012-01-12T12:06:34Z")
I work near the main channel of the Mississippi, so it isn’t uncommon to see eagles esp. when the rivers starts to freeze over. A few weeks ago there were 5 mostly immature on the beach Spring 2010 there were \> 35 on one spot in the backwaters (I think freezing killed all the fish and the eagles took advantage). Same spot in 2011 and nothing unsual Brian ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/33 "2012-01-12T13:36:45Z")
Yesterday on my way home from class, I came up on an eagle on the side of the road. It swooped up as I approached and flew side-window level with me for just a moment before going up, circling around, and (I was watching from my rearview mirror) landing back on the side of the road to continue with whatever it had been doing. The thing that struck me, because I was so close to it for so long, is that you know how they look so damn serious in all the “bald eagle + American flag” artwork? They ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE THAT. Its face and eyes were FANTASTIC! And the claws. I paid attention to the claws this time and, yeah, they’re gigantic. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/34 "2012-01-12T13:55:56Z")
I heard somewhere that there aren’t actually more bald eagles, but fewer of them are doing feather comb-overs. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/35 "2012-01-12T14:36:17Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > I used to watch the [Wedgetails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge-tailed_Eagle) on Kangaroo Island. Awesome, just awesome birds. I’ve seen the wedgetails when travelling through Central Australia- Alice Springs and the surrounds. Not the largest eagle in the world, but I believe it may have the largest wing span. Big enough to scare me anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/36 "2012-01-12T15:27:19Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > These gopher guts - are they pooped out or regurgitated? Neither - the red tails I’ve seen here are just reallly messy eaters, which is worse. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437/37 "2012-01-13T05:32:57Z")
Homer, Alaska, back in 2006, had too much of a [good thing.](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-17-2006/helms---the-eagle-has-loitered) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-there-was-just-a-bald-eagle-on-our-back-fence/608437.md?page=1)