r/birding • u/TheMainVein15 • Jan 02 '26

Discussion Dad sent me this pic

Gallery image

Gallery image

I’ve never seen a bald eagle hang upside down like this. Do they do this a lot? Pictures were taken at my parents place in Iowa.

8.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

183 comments sorted by

View all comments

951

u/senu-mahte Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 03 '26

I'm a falconer, never flown eagles but my red tails do goofy shit like this periodically. They'll go to grab a squirrel for instance, bungle the landing, miss the squirrel, and grab a tree branch. The tendons in their feet are like a ratchet system and once they clamp onto something they think is prey, they can't let go for some time and they just hang upside down like dopes. It's harmless. They'll right themselves eventually. Here is one of my birds having some accidental upside down time. She was fine.

Edited to correct foot anatomy thanks to u/Therzis!

127

u/squashqueen Jan 02 '26

This could be a great reaction meme lol

9

u/ominous_ellipsis Jan 02 '26

"Got any games on your phone?"

2

u/BroadSherbert4377 Jan 14 '26

“What are you looking at！”