A pair of bald eagles have decided to raise a chick of their ‘mortal enemy’, the red-tailed hawk, in a rare event that has stunned wildlife experts.
Bald eagles and red-tailed hawks are bitter enemies in their home turf of British Colombia and often take to the skies for vicious aerial fights.
Scientists believe the tiny hawk chick was originally stolen from its nest to make a tasty snack for the bald eagles. But the sounds of the chick’s cries kick-started the female eagle’s maternal instincts, who then started to raise the chick as her own.
The hawk chick is being raised along with three bald eagle chicks in a nest high up a Douglas fir tree inside a bird sanctuary.