Eagle watchers — and just about all of us in North America — are familiar with the well-documented athletic abilities of our national emblem, the bald eagle. You’ve seen countless films of them, noiselessly swooping down upon unsuspecting fish, swiping them up with strong, sharp talons, and then soaring away for the land to indulge in a tasty meal.
However, as any nature traveler knows, sometimes things don’t go as planned.
We rarely picture our majestic bald eagles swimming. But according to eagle experts, they are very good at the sport. In fact, it’s not uncommon for an eagle to misjudge prey and latch into a fish too heavy or large to fly with. So, they go with the flow — so to speak — and give swimming to shore a shot.
Such a decision is not without significant dangers, however. Eagles have drowned during encounters with fish or if they were unable to swim far enough to reach shore. Once an eagle is in the water, it cannot fly again until it’s out of the water — making the decision to swim an all or nothing proposition. And if the water is very cold, hypothermia could set in.
These facts make watching the following videos all that much more amazing. We did well to select the bald eagle as our national emblem: It seems they personify steely determination at its best.
Written By Candice Gaukel Andrews.
Amazing footage Candice. Thanks so much for sharing. I’ve taken the liberty to pass along! Amanda
Amanda,
It is incredible, isn’t it?
And, I just saw a mature bald eagle this morning near my home for the first time. Very adaptable birds!
C.G.A.
thanks for shearing this information:)
Amazing display of determination and grit!
Wow!
Thanks for sharing. this was amazing. Dare I add that the eagle is actually doing the butterfly, not the breaststroke?
You sure can, Dan! Somehow, though, “Bald Eagle Does the Butterfly” probably wouldn’t be the best headline!
C.G.A.
That was nice to watch and see just the determination this eagle has!
Thanks for sharing it Candice!
Amazing video. We have three Bald Eagles that frequent our lake, but never have I seen one swim.
does the second bald eagle make it to the shore?
Good thing there were no Gators to worry about the amazing predator could have become the prey and this spectacular footage would not exist.
Amazing, this is what is known as adaptability and survival skills in nature. Thanks a lot for sharing this information.
Very cool, Candice. Wondering though – in the second video, does that eagle make it to the shore?
Absolutely amazing. What was the thing in the water that the Eagle was after? Seems like if it were a fish it would have been long gone.
Thanks for sharing this, my husband and I do love birds of prey and didn’t know this. Wonderful to see.
What a great video Candice! I have had a similar experience here on Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge only with a Golden eagle. I always have one of our game cameras set up in an area of the Refuge with a couple of small ponds. One day it caught this eagle as it entered the water, then again about halfway across and finally as he approached the other bank. Since there are no fish in these ponds, I assumed he was actually taking a swim on purpose to clean and cool down. I had always wished I had the camera set up for video on this occasion, because I had never seen an eagle swimming and I was curious at how they did it. After watching your videos, I have been enlightened. Thank you!
I didn’t know eagles could do that! It’s great.
Not sure if he made it to shore or not, since the video was cut short. But let’s hope he did – it seems like he was very close! C.G.A.
Wow! Thanks for sharing. I had no idea that bald eagles could swim!
Thank You Candice. I didn’t know it either.
Truly amazing!!! What awesome animals… and how wonderful to capture that on camera!
wow. I know the Bald Eagle has made a come back, we studied them in W.PA and counted the numbers on forest public lands. You can see that determination.
Amazing! Thanks for sharing!
That is amazing! That is one smart eagle! Thanks for sharing. I’d shared it on FB, too
What?! I had no idea that eagles can “swim”. Wow!
The fish eating raptors do indeed have a difficult choice to make when the fish is either too large or the feathers have become to wet to fly again. Here in North Idaho last year over a dozen Osprey were taken to vet clinics for injuries. Our NPO has a study to discover why and how these injuries are being sustained – perhaps fights over food, perhaps hypothermia, often fisning line entanglement. If you are in our area we would enjoy your volunteering for this behavioral study. We have not seen Eagles with this type of tauma but perhaps they have simply not been rescued in time.
…this style is more like a butterfly stroke…, which should be renamed: “eagle stroke”!