Editing Bald eagle (section)

=== Interspecific predatory relationships ===
[[File:Birds of Prey Wisconsin 08.jpg|thumb|left|Pursuing an [[osprey]] to steal fish]]
When competing for food, eagles will usually dominate other fish-eaters and scavengers, aggressively displacing [[mammal]]s such as [[coyote]]s (''Canis latrans'') and foxes, and birds such as [[corvid]]s, [[gull]]s, vultures and other [[Bird of prey|raptors]].<ref name="Sherrod"/> Occasionally, coyotes, [[bobcat]]s (''Lynx rufus'') and [[Dog|domestic dogs]] (''Canis familiaris'') can displace eagles from carrion, usually less confident immature birds, as has been recorded in Maine.<ref name=j14/> Bald eagles are less active, bold predators than golden eagles and get relatively more of their food as carrion and from kleptoparasitism (although it is now generally thought that golden eagles eat more carrion than was previously assumed).<ref name='Erlandson.'/><ref name= Watson/> However, the two species are roughly equal in size, aggressiveness and physical strength and so competitions can go either way. Neither species is known to be dominant, and the outcome depends on the size and disposition of the individual eagles involved.<ref name="BNA"/> Wintering bald and golden eagles in [[Utah]] both sometimes won conflicts, though in one recorded instance a single bald eagle successfully displaced two consecutive golden eagles from a kill.<ref name= Sabine>{{cite journal |last1=Sabine |first1=N. |last2=Gardner |first2=K. |year=1987 |title=Agonistic encounters between Bald Eagles and other raptors wintering in west central Utah |journal=Journal of Raptor Research |volume=21 |pages=118–120}}</ref>

Though bald eagles face few natural threats, an unusual attacker comes in the form of the common loon (''G. immer''), which is also taken by eagles as prey. While common loons normally avoid conflict, they are highly territorial and will attack predators and competitors by stabbing at them with their knife-like bill; as the range of the bald eagle has increased following conservation efforts, these interactions have been observed on several occasions, including a fatality of a bald eagle in Maine that is presumed to have come about as a result of it attacking a nest, then having a fatal [[Penetrating trauma|puncture wound]] inflicted by one or both loon parents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 27, 2020 |title=Why did a loon stab a bald eagle through the heart? |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/05/why-loon-stabbed-bald-eagle-heart/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528012828/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/05/why-loon-stabbed-bald-eagle-heart/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 28, 2020 |access-date=December 1, 2020 |website=National Geographic |first=Jason |last=Bittel |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The bald eagle is thought to be much more numerous in North America than the golden eagle, with the bald species estimated to number at least 150,000 individuals, about twice as many as there are golden eagles estimated to live in North America.<ref name= Watson/><ref name="Bio"/> Due to this, bald eagles often outnumber golden eagles at attractive food sources.<ref name= Watson/> Despite the potential for contention between these animals, in [[New Jersey]] during winter, a golden eagle and numerous bald eagles were observed to hunt [[snow geese]] alongside each other without conflict. Similarly, both eagle species have been recorded, via video-monitoring, to feed on gut piles and carcasses of [[white-tailed deer]] (''Odocoileus virginianus'') in remote forest clearings in the eastern [[Appalachian Mountains]] without apparent conflict.<ref name= Watson/> Bald eagles are frequently mobbed by smaller raptors, due to their infrequent but unpredictable tendency to hunt other birds of prey.<ref name= Sabine/> Many bald eagles are habitual kleptoparasites, especially in winters when fish are harder to come by. They have been recorded stealing fish from other predators such as [[osprey]]s, [[heron]]s and even [[otter]]s.<ref name="BNA"/><ref name=j13/> They have also been recorded opportunistically pirating birds from [[peregrine falcon]]s (''Falco peregrinus''), prairie dogs from [[ferruginous hawk]]s (''Buteo regalis'') and even jackrabbits from [[golden eagle]]s.<ref name=j7/><ref name=j8/> When they approach scavengers such as dogs, gulls or vultures at carrion sites, they often attack them in an attempt to force them to disgorge their food.<ref name="FPL"/> Healthy adult bald eagles are not preyed upon in the wild and are thus considered [[apex predator]]s.<ref name=r6/>