On 3/6/2012 1:01 PM, Chris Barker wrote:
> Thanks, Chuck, I like those. I never saw bald eagles in the wild. I assume
> that juveniles have different head colouring from adults.
On 3/6/2012 4:09 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> Why not? Plenty of fish to eat all year long. No need to fuss with
> winter. I would guess ice fishing for eagles is pretty tough. :-)
>
>
> On 3/6/2012 6:48 PM, Johnny Johnson wrote:
>> A State of Florida naturalist recently told me that Florida has the second
>> largest population of Bald Eagles in the
>> US, second only to Alaska. I'm not sure why but I found that surprising. If
>> asked I would have guessed Alaska and
>> then Montana or Wyoming.
No. America has two large eagles, Bald & Golden. It is very difficult to tell
the juveniles apart. They have completely
different diets. The Bald is a true fish eater, while the Golden eats pretty
much anything found on land or in the air,
but doesn't fish*.
The difference is highly significant, though. A nearby wildlife rehab center
for many years had an apparently perfectly
healthy adult Golden Eagle on display in a cage. As a fledgling, it had been
misidentified (by someone else) as a Bald
and raised on a fish diet. As it matured, they realized their mistake, but it
was too late. It's bone and muscle
development was poor, and it couldn't fly.
Alaska has a very extensive seacoast. Florida is a peninsula surrounded by sea
and low lying enough to be full of lakes.
Montana and Wyoming have only a small amount of open water. I would imagine
both have larger Golden than Bald Eagle
populations.
Bald Eagles simply excite people more, both for their far showier plumage and
as the national bird of the US. There was
a great deal of excitement when a nesting pair took up residence on a lake in
the southern part of the county I live in.
Yet most of Alameda County and the similar, adjacent Contra Costa County are
rolling hills, still with large amounts of
undeveloped park and range land. Although I knew the area had was excellent
habitat and had Goldens, I was surprised to
find on Wikipedia "The highest density of nesting Golden Eagles in the world
lies in southern Alameda County, California."
I once watched a juvenile Golden (assumed from location) being unrelentingly
harassed by crows. They actually drove it
to the ground, where it took refuge under a low live oak until they went away.
From time of year and situation, I assume
it was a recently fledged bird, not yet an accomplished flier. An adult would
simply have eaten a crow or two. :-)
Golden Moose
* "Golden Eagles use their agility and speed combined with extremely powerful
talons to snatch up prey including
rabbits, marmots, ground squirrels, and large mammals such as foxes, wild and
domestic cats, mountain goats, ibex, and
young deer. They will also eat carrion if prey is scarce, as well as reptiles.
Birds, including large species up to the
size of swans and cranes as well as ravens and Greater Black-backed Gulls have
all been recorded as prey. They have even
been known to attack and kill fully grown roe deer. The Eurasian subspecies is
used to hunt and kill wolves in many
native communities, ..."
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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