These bald eagles waged war in the skies with talons locked in a vicious mid-air grapple over fishing rights.
The action-packed shots show one of the magnificent birds of prey swooping in to snatch a hapless fish from the claws of another. Programme manager Phoo Chan, 50, from Kelantan, Malaysia managed to snap the shots on a U.S. visit to Seabeck in Washington.
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The bald eagle – which has a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres – is the national animal of the United States, appearing on the nation’s seal. The bird of prey was on the brink of extinction within the United States in the late 20th century but populations have recovered in recent years.
The species was removed from the government’s list of endangered species in July 1995. It was further removed from the list of threatened species in June 2007.
Bald eagles are opportunistic feeders – taken to the extreme in this series of photographs – and eat mainly fish. They also eat a number of small animal species including rabbits, hares, squirrels, racoons and beavers, targeting mainly newborn, dead, sickly or injured mammals.
As sea eagles, the birds are mainly found near large bodies of open water, in areas across North America, Canada and northern Mexico.
Video: Bald Eagle swoops down and steals GoPro camera (related)
Source: dailymail.co.uk
