The rare moment of seeing a small bird blatantly riding on an eagle’s head in Massachusetts, USA was recorded by Guilong Charles Cheng, a 43-year-old amateur photographer with a passion for wildlife.
In the photo is a female eagle. It is a fledgling that is learning to fly and become familiar with its surroundings. The eagle mistakenly landed in a tree near a small bird’s nest.
When they saw the enemy invading the nest, the small birds gathered and screamed to scare away the eagle. When the eagle flew away, one of the small birds bravely chased after the eagle to make sure it did not return to the nest.
With its efforts, the little bird finally caught up with the eagle, even climbing onto its back and onto the head of the predator dominating the sky. So the little bird was “carried” by the eagle for a while.
The small bird’s actions were considered reckless because its size was much smaller than that of an eagle.
Guilong Charles Cheng said it is rare and very dangerous for a small bird to fly right on top of an eagle’s head. It can become an eagle’s meal at any time.
This small bird has a red crown on its head and is only visible when in a situation where it is threatened by predators. In the photo, the bird’s crown is clearly visible, suggesting it feels threatened by its predator.
Pictured is the American bald eagle. Adult eagles can be more than a meter long and weigh 3 to 6.3 kg, with a wingspan of 1.8 to 2.3 meters.
Bald eagles are notorious predators in the sky. In the US, they are a protected animal, anyone found killing this bird can be fined up to 250,000 USD.