A Bald Eagle's Diet

As the Smithsonian National Zoo explains, bald eagles are predators. They are equipped with excellent eyesight and powerful beaks and talons to assist them in the role.

  1. Typical Foods

    • According to the Smithsonian National Zoo, a bald eagle's diet is mainly centered around fish, although they will also eat small mammals like muskrats, other birds (particularly waterfowl) and even carrion.

    Hunting

    • As the Carolina Raptor Center notes, when hunting fish, bald eagles often swoop down and grab the fish out of the water with their talons; alternatively they may wade into the water and catch the fish with their beaks. Bald eagles also frequently pick up and eat fish that are already dead.

    Stealing

    • As the Smithsonian National Zoo explains, in addition to hunting on their own, bald eagles often steal food caught by other animals, particularly osprey. Once an osprey has caught a fish, the bald eagle forces the osprey to drop the food, then takes the prey for itself.

    Diet in Captivity

    • The eagles at the Smithsonian National Zoo are fed a diet of dead rats and chicks as well as vitamin and mineral supplements.

    Diet and DDT

    • According to National Geographic, the fish-based nature of the bald eagle's diet makes it particularly susceptible to the effects of DDT as DDT becomes concentrated in fish. Consumption of DDT causes birds to produce eggs with very weak shells. Until DDT use in the United States was restricted in 1972, bald eagles had a difficult time reproducing.