Bald Eagle

On 21 July 2020, at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Erika and I came upon a first-year Bald Eagle standing on the ground near a flock of Canada Geese. We thought it odd that the geese felt safe to sleep with the eagle so near. Perhaps the waterfowl depended on the one goose obviously awake. 

Bald Eagles are an "opportunistic forager.” Usually eagles are found near water and in most locations they prefer eating fish. Birds and mammals are often eaten as carrion—already dead. They are known to eat garbage at dumps. The list of what a Bald Eagle will eat is long and varied. The list includes fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans and birds, including ducks and geese, gulls, and Great Blue Herons (Buehler 2020).