Bald Eagle eats Purple Martin

[stan kostka]

Have been working my way through a backlog of email communications from 2005, thought this one worth sharing. Stan.

Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2005 17:16:31 -0700
Hello Kevin; I just got back from Woodard Bay, lots of martins in the air and attending nests. At one point we saw one martin seem to land on the back of another in mid-air and they tumbled down toward the water only to separate before splash down and fly off. I have no idea the reason for this behavior. Some 10 minutes later or so I heard a commotion from near a cluster of nests and saw a bird fluttering on the surface of the water. The martins were making a grating call not unlike a starling and at first I thought there were starlings in the area, but I could not see any though I looked. Not 30 seconds after the ruckus started an adult bald eagle came streaking down and made a pass at the bird fluttering on the water. It missed but just behind it came the second adult bald eagle who grabbed the bird from the water, flew to a pole on the old trestle and proceeded to eat its catch. The martins mostly moved off but a few harassed the eagle. Feel free to pass this along to interested parties. Lanny

[John Miller]

Stan

Fascinating report. I'm wondering of this martin was a fledgling that had just jumped from the "cluster of nests." I assume these are nest boxes on pilings? Late last season I also noticed some mid-air squabbling at the time fledglings were flying about. Maybe this was what the writer saw.

You may have posted photos in the past, but any new ones of your efforts would be appreciated this coming season.

John Miller