From Sherman Shifflett
This story came from a gentleman who runs a 2,000-acre corn farm near Barron, Wisconsin, not far from Oshkosh. He once flew F-4Es and F-16s for the National Guard and participated in the first Gulf War. Here is his account about two eagles and three crows:
I was planting corn to finish a field before the next morning when I witnessed “The Great Battle.” A golden eagle with a 6-foot wingspan flew right in front of the tractor, chased by 3 crows, continually dive bombing and pecking away. Crows do this because eagles rob their nests when they find them.
The eagle banked hard right in an evasive maneuver and landed in the field about 100 feet from the tractor. This eagle stood about 3 feet tall. The crows also landed and took up positions around the eagle, but kept a distance of about 20 feet from the larger bird. The eagle would take a couple steps toward a crow and they’d hop backwards to keep their distance. Then the reinforcement showed up. I saw the eagle’s mate hurtling out of the sky at approximately Mach 1.5.
Just before impact, the eagle on the ground took flight, obviously a coordinated tactic, probably pre-briefed, and the three crows watching the grounded eagle also took flight, thinking they were going to do some more pecking on the big bird.
Crow number one, targeted by the diving eagle, never stood a snowball’s chance. There was a mid-air explosion of black feathers and that crow was done.
The diving eagle banked hard left in what had to be a 9G climbing turn, using energy it accumulated in the dive, and hit crow number two less than 2 seconds later. Another dead crow.
The grounded eagle, now airborne and with an altitude advantage on the remaining crow, streaked eastward in full burner, made a short dive, banked hard right when the escaping crow tried to evade the hit. But it didn’t work. Crow number three bit the dust about 20 feet AGL. This aerial battle was better than any air show I’ve witnesses, including the War Birds at Oshkosh.
The eagles ripped the crows apart and ate them on the ground. As I got closer, working my way across the field, I passed within 20 feet of one as it ate its catch. The eagle stopped and looked at me as I went by, and you could see by the expression that the bird knew exactly who was the boss.
What beautiful birds.
I loved it. Not only did they kill their enemies, they ate them. It was one of the best Fighter Pilot episodes I’ve seen in a long time.