You may have received private replies already, but this seems like something
that could be of interest to others on the listserve also.  Yes, Bald Eagles
can be scavengers as well as predators.  It seems surprising, considering
how well equipped they are for hunting; but in some areas they regularly
come down to shorelines to feed on dead fish, and they'll certainly come
down to deer carcasses as well.  Here in northern Ohio, occasionally we'll
even see a Bald Eagle feeding on a road-killed deer along a busy highway.

Aside from consistent scavengers like vultures and caracaras, many birds of
prey will occasionally feed on carrion if the opportunity presents itself,
but Bald Eagles do so more often than any other raptor species here in Ohio.
When my wife Kim was living in the countryside near Carey (before we were
married), she once had a road-killed deer hauled out to the field behind her
house as a "vulture feeder," and after a couple of weeks, a Bald Eagle was
attracted to the carcass as well.  That's creative bird-feeding at its
finest.

Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio


----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Beal" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 2:59 PM
Subject: [Ohio-birds] is this right about Bald Eagles?


>I was told that during the winter this year someone in Michigan moved
> dead deer from the road onto a frozen pond.  Bald Eagles then ate the
> dead deer.  Has anyone observed Bald Eagles do this?  I have never heard
> they eat dead things, like Turkey Vultures do.
>
> Thanks.
>
>

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