Self Isolating in the Wild: Do Hawks eat Eagles?

Do birds eat other birds? Would a hawk eat an eagle? I know birds will eat other birds. I am still not sure I know the answer to the second question.

Mother eagle was sitting in the next with the young baby eagle (maybe a week or two after it hatched). Along came a hawk circling over head then proceeded to buzz around the nest. As he got near the nest the mother eagle started loudly screeching.

The hawk is doing a fly over. The mother eagle’s white head is just visible a tad in the bottom center of this photo near the tree trunk. The eagle’s nest is at the bottom center of the photo.

Arriving quickly was the father eagle. Father eagle chased the hawk away then proceeded to sit on a neighboring tree. After a while, the hawk returned and the father eagle chased him away again. Father eagle hung out for a while for good measure, then flew away.

Arrived to help protect the nest.
Father eagle chasing the hawk away from the nest.
Standing watch
Coast is clear so off to go fishing

I have seen videos online of eagles defending the nest. One shows an eagle killing and eating a hawk that attacked. Eagles and hawks it seems are natural enemies. Will an hawk eat a baby eagle? Will it just try to kill it? Do you know the answer?

19 thoughts on “Self Isolating in the Wild: Do Hawks eat Eagles?”

  2. Great shots! Raptors are all opportunists and will attack and eat anything smaller than themselves, including taking other raptors’ chicks, although they are not in their primary diet. I’ve watched both hawks and eagles even try to snatch chicks from an Osprey nest a few times. 😲

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      3. Yes. Your hawk could have been a hungry juvenile or an adult with chicks to feed as well. Only guessing since I don’t know what you saw. Our birding world is turned upside down. The kites are coming in looking for nests of other birds now. Plus you have the hawks and the crows. It’s rough out there. 😳

        Liked by 1 person

    1. One parent was there and started wildly complaining then the other came quickly. I have seen hawks this year flying by another eagle’s nest. The last couple of years the hawks and eagles shared this park and avoided each other. Makes me wonder if the eagle may have tried to get a hawk baby first.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. Do Hawks eat eaglets…..you betcha! Baby birds of all types are on the menu for many Raptors Eagles steal away Crow babies. As far as attacking an adult eagle and killing it…..never heard of that? Eagles do grab the occasional Hawk but that might be more from confrontation rather than seeking them out?
    Your a eaglholic Sharon!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I’m getting there. But with all the rain we’ve been getting and the rate the leaves are coming in I may not see the baby eagles again until around June when they start branching. Not safe to be on that steep hill overlooking the nest when the ground isn’t dry.

      Like

      Reply

      2. Many of the people who show up at the park will try to get other birds. I try once in a while too. Eagles and bluebirds are my favorites but bluebirds aren’t so cooperative. Sometimes I think they eagles show off for us. The father eagle always seems to soar around a bit before deciding to land in the nest.

        Like

Leave a comment