Bald Eagle Adopts Baby Hawk Instead of Eating Him

[Omaha Steve]

By: Laura Goldman June 15, 2017

In the wild, bald eagles and red-tailed hawks are natural-born enemies, frequently fighting each other to the death – with larger bald eagles typically winning those bloody battles.

That’s why it’s so amazing that instead of serving her offspring a 4-week-old red-tailed hawk she may have snatched, a bald eagle in British Columbia has literally taken the young bird under her wing, raising it alongside her three eaglets.

A raptor expert says this is extremely rare in nature. Why was the hawklet’s life spared? One theory is that the mother bald eagle’s hormonal urge to kill it was overwhelmed by her hormonal urge to feed it when the hungry hawklet started squawking for food.

“What probably happened in this case is that when they brought this little guy back, he probably begged for food, as he would do, not even realizing the danger it was in,” Dr. David Bird (yep, that’s his real name) told CTV News.

FULL story: http://www.care2.com/causes/bald-eagle-adopts-baby-hawk-instead-of-eating-him.html

[Skittles]

1. Dr. Bird

Gotta love that.

[marybourg]

5. I used to collect names like that.

I lost my list, but I do remember Dr. Knee, the orthopedist, and Dr. Falik the obstetrician.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

7. My mother had hand surgery by a Dr. Hand.

[Omaha Steve]

8. You probably won't believe me unless you go to the link to see what he does!!!

For those that won't go to blind links.

Dr. Dennis D Beavers, MD
Obstetrician / Gynecologist (OBGYN) - General

https://www.doctor.com/Dr-Dennis_Beavers

[ashling]

14. I had hand surgery by Dr, Palm

[mbusby]

15. We had Dr. Butt and Dr. Nutt...

..one was a proctologist, the other a psychiatrist.

[jmowreader]

16. In the late 1960s there was a dentist in Afton, WY, named "Doctor Payne"

[mitch96]

17. I worked with a urologist named

Richard Finder....... aka Dick Finder... It must have been hell in Med School.
Great guy and great doctor.. Quit to be a photographer...
m

[marybourg]

18. That's hysterical!

[phylny]

19. Not the same thing, but there's a local dentist named Dr. Kervorkian.

I often wonder how he stayed in business.

[Hortensis]

2. Wonderful! Mother Nature is such a bitch, but never boring.

[malaise]

3. Nice

Long time no see

[Solly Mack]

4. :)

[BigmanPigman]

6. A hawk pulled apart a dove outside of my first grade classroom.

It was terrible...a shower of feathers rained down and my students started crying so I had to close the door and we voted to stay inside during recess instead of going out. I didn't know birds did that to each other and I cried too. It was a learning experience for all of us!

[roamer65]

9. Just like humans, there are good apples and bad apples.

This momma eagle is probably a good one.

[elleng]

10. Great!

These osprey just fought off some big bird in Missoula; Check the sub-thread for live: http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/27/Hellgate_Ospreys/

[Sophiegirl]

11. My dentist name is

Dr. Butts.

Been my dentist since 1986. I dread the day he retires.

[d_r]

13. In chattanooga we have

a dentist Dr. James Dick. I wasn't sure I was ready for a Dick in my mouth.

[csziggy]

12. Roberts Bay Bald Eagles -Sidney BC- 2016-2017 Season Blog

This links to the second page of this season - the first post on this page is the first discovery of the odd chick on May 31, 2017:
http://www.hancockwildlife.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=908803&mode=&show=8&page=2

Edited to add: the Hancock Wildlife Foundation has posted pictures and updates, including link to National Geographic article about the hawk chick in the eagle nest: http://www.hancockwildlife.org/

The link above does not provide a direct link to the National Geographic article. Here is on: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/bald-eagles-adopt-red-tailed-hawk-chick/

[Omaha Steve]

20. Thanks for posting!!!