American Bald Eagle Caught on Camera Flying with a Canadian Goose Grasped in Its Talons

“We were watching our security cameras at work. Cory saw something very large fly by and we backed up the footage to watch it in slow motion. We were all shocked and amazed when we realized what was actually happening. We see an assortment of wildlife every day—eagles, beavers, skunks, otters and things. What we don’t see every day is a bald eagle carrying a Canada goose,” Jeff Nelson, who works at Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River in Washington State, told Newsweek.

It was a breathtaking sight. The American Bald Eagle is the national symbol of the United States, whose body can reach up to one meter in length with a wingspan of 2.4 meters across. So, you can just imagine how this huge bald eagle in the video looked with a Canadian goose tightly grasped in its talons.

Bald Eagles are not really bald. They have white heads that glisten in contrast with their bodies and wings that are covered with brown feathers. In this viral photo, the eagle successfully caught another bird, but bald eagles are more notorious for piracy. They commonly steal from smaller birds who have caught fish or other prey for dinner. But they may also hunt as a team, with one bald eagle driving the prey toward its partner.

Another amazing fact about Bald Eagles is that they can fly as high as 10,000 feet and spot a fish that’s more than 1.5 kilometers away. Then, they can drop down at a speed of 100 miles per hour to catch prey.

In this particular incident, Nelson related to Newsweek that the eagle with the goose had a companion with whom it shared its prize catch.

Comment from Reddit user triclops6: “This is literally how Game of Thrones started.”

Likewise, FisterRobotOh remarked, “Armed with this information, I’m confident the goose will survive to become the crippled ruler of Westeros for some reason.”