It’s like a scene out of Romeo and Juliet, or perhaps the Rapunzel story. A wild bald eagle has taken up residence on a tree just adjacent to a bald eagle enclosure at the Orange County Zoo in Irvine, near Los Angeles.
It's like a scene out of Romeo and Juliet, or perhaps the Rapunzel story. A wild bald eagle has taken up residence on a tree just adjacent to a bald eagle enclosure at the Orange County Zoo in Irvine, near Los Angeles. In fact, the wild bird has shown particular interest in the zoo's 6-year-old female bald eagle, Olivia.
In fact, the pair have been chatting it up--well, squawking back and forth, as the Zoo manager explains, and seem to have struck up a friendship. Is it bald eagle love? Zookeepers aren't sure, since they don't know the sex of the visiting bird, though its size suggests it may be male. They do believe that the wild bald eagle is drawn to the site because "the zoo lies close to an abundant food source: Santiago Creek," which is full of fish following recent rains.
Image: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the Skagit valley, Washington, USA./Wikimedia Commons
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication. Follow Jason G. Goldman on Twitter
