Eagle gets "buzzed" by a broad-winged hawk

Broad-winged hawk swoops on bald eagle

Smaller hawk leaves the much-larger eagle to its perch

A bald eagle has to duck from a broad-winged hawk and the entire action is recorded by Bow Narrows angler/photographer Doug Billings.
From time to time you see smaller birds attacking, or maybe feigning attacks, on larger birds but they are playing with fire.

Doug Billings with northern pike

I once saw a raven dive at an eagle. Usually the larger bird just rolls a bit when the smaller one comes by and that is what happened the first two times. Then, I don't know if the eagle was just having a bad day or what but on the raven's third dive the eagle did an abrupt loop and was now above and behind the smaller bird.
The black raven tried to use its shorter wingspan to outmanoeuvre the big eagle but it didn't work. The eagle could pull swallow-like turns, loops, climbs and dives. Whenever the raven got a little separation the eagle, pumping its big wings faster than I thought possible for such a big bird, closed the space in an instant. The two birds twisted and turned around and around in what was pretty much a freefall until finally, just before striking the ground, they pulled apart. The raven streaked away in a panic and the eagle resumed its bomber-like flight.
The broad-winged hawk is a small hawk, about the size of a crow. It is probably the most conspicuous of the Boreal Forest hawks, most of which are small to medium in size. The broad-winged has a very high-pitched screech that you often hear when you are fishing. It soars in circles, always with its mate nearby. A good way to identify the broad-winged is to note the dark bands on its tail and the light colour of the underside of its wings. They show dark just on the trailing edge.

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