Eagles Fight in Russian Winter

Gloden eagle grabs Stellers sea eagle by the leg in a fight over food (screenshot from National Geographic online)
Golden eagle grabs Steller’s sea eagle during a fight (screenshot from YouTube video)

14 January 2015

In North America, bald eagles and golden eagles are very large birds but they’re no match in size for the Steller’s sea eagle.

Steller’s sea eagles (Haliaeetus pelagicus) live on the coast of northeast Asia so do not encounter North America’s bald eagle but they do run into goldens who are lightweights by comparison.  The largest Steller’s can outweigh a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) by a factor of two.

At Lake Kuril on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, Steller’s sea eagles and golden eagles compete for food.

Location of Lake Kuril, Kamchatka, Russia (screenshot from Google maps)

Watch these rivals fight in the Russian winter.

(screenshot from National Geographic’s Wild Russia series which, as of Jan 2022, no longer hosts the Steller’s sea eagle fight)

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