A group of swans warded off a bald eagle in Missouri field 100 miles northeast of Kansas City, The Miami Herald reported.
Mark Ramsey photographed the fight that occurred near Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge on December 13, The Miami Herald reported.
At first the bald eagle tried hunting a swan that was by itself in the field, The Miami Herald reported.
“They just stared at each other a few feet apart,” Ramsey told McClatchy News, according to the Herald. “Then the swan had enough and left.”
Then, the eagle found several swans in the same vicinity, the outlet reported. They bunched together when they saw the eagle, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Guys On A Boat Throw A Fish In The Air For A Bald Eagle To Catch)
“I think the swans and the eagle probably knew it couldn’t take a healthy 25 (pound) swan,” Ramsey said. “But I do think it was checking to see if one was hurt or sick and it might have tried then.”
While bald eagle’s normally prey on fish, they also eat waterfowl, squirrels, raccoons, prairie dogs and rabbits, according to the National Eagle Center, the outlet reported. They also sometimes prey on swans, the outlet reported. In 2009, a photographer in British Columbia captured an eagle attacking a swan in mid-air, The Telegraph reported.