Did You Know That Bald Eagles Can Swim?

This weekend was a record-hot weekend here in Michigan. Hot weekends here in this state equal a nice day at the lake. Whether it be somewhere as local as Hawk Island Park in Lansing or Asylum Lake in Kalamazoo. A dip in the lake when things get hot is just a Michigan tradition.

This past weekend though, humans were only one of the creatures cooling off in a lake.

A bald eagle was spotted taking a swim in Lake Superior, at the Calumet Waterworks Park on Sunday, according to WLUC.

“Sometimes the birds dive for food at the water’s surface only to discover that it’s bigger than they calculated,” said the National Aubudon Sociteysaid in an article.

According to the National Aubudon Socitey, a society built to protect birds and the place they live said that "sea Eagles," and bald eagles are included in this, will sometimes use swimming as a fallback when they are hunting.

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America. The eagle mainly hunts fish, by swooping down to the water and grabbing their prey with their talons. The bird also builds some of the biggest nests ever recorded for any animal species in North America.

How Do Bald Eagles Swim?

Unlike ducks, who have webbed feet, the bald eagle does not have that as a fallback. I stumbled upon a video on youtube of a bald eagle swimming across the Mississippi River, and it was rather intriguing. The video below is not the same video, however, it still shows how an eagle would swim in the waters.

The eagle will do a stroke with its wings, almost like a breaststroke. It would be like a human doing a stroke through the water to get to their next destination.

How do they fly after they get wet?

If you had feathery wings like this bird, you probably wouldn't be able to take flight very well either after taking a quick dip in the water. The bird can be seen doing the same type of stroke shown above in the video to get back to land and dry off. This also allows the bird to regroup with their prey.

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The video attached below shows better how the bird takes their prey back to shore. It's the same type of stroke shown from above, but this time, the bird's prey is with it.