Two bald eagles that found themselves in a tangle were able to hop away to safety, thanks to the keen eye of a passerby and the expertise of a well-known seabird biologist.
Dot Hartery spotted the two eagles snared with one another in the ditch by the side of the Trans Canada-Highway last week. They called in seabird biologist Dr. Bill Montevecchi to help conduct a rescue.
Whether an avian quarrel or courtship gone awry, Montevecchi says it was a strange situation to find alongside the Trans-Canada.
Strange for sure though the eagles were remarkably cooperative at least with me. https://t.co/coLfPSH5XO
— Bill Montevecchi (@BillMontevecchi) May 20, 2020
Carefully approaching the animals, Montevecchi discovered that their talons had locked together. Using caution, he managed to disentangle the two with what he calls “a bit of coaxing and a tug.” A brief struggle ensued, but the two bald eagles managed to separate and hop onto the nearby bank.
Seemed like that though in image eagle on right seems larger suggesting it's a female with the smaller male on the left. Bald eagles have size dimorphism [females being larger than males]. Maybe courtship gone awry. When birds were separated female appeared to be the aggressor. https://t.co/oQn9KV16yj
— Bill Montevecchi (@BillMontevecchi) May 20, 2020
As for their fate after hopping free, Montevecchi says one of the birds flew off over the TCH, while the other scrambled into the nearby foliage for recovery.
Hartery shared video of the rescue on Facebook.
