Aspects of food finding by wintering Bald Eagles

We examined three aspects of food location by Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) wintering along the Nooksack River, Washington. First, eagles used intra- and interspecific local enhancement to locate food. Second, the time that eagles spent aerially searching for food, as indicated by the percentage of eagles flying or soaring, was negatively correlated with relative food availability. Third, eagles often followed others when departing from or arriving at communal night roosts. Following was most frequent when all food was eliminated by flood waters, suggesting a possible food-location function of this behavior. During the flood period, adult eagles were followed more often than immatures.