I know it happens, but I just don’t understand why a Bald Eagle would flee from a Common Raven.
Once, when I watched a Red-tailed Hawk flee from the harassment of a raven, an experienced birder explained that ravens really do have sharp claws and from the point of view of the hawk, there is no point in risking an injury. Fair enough, the idea is: Just walk away (well, fly away) from a silly fight. But, surely the logic goes the other way around also: The raven would become lunch if the eagle actually chose to take it on.
A juvenile Bald Eagle just flew off when harassed by a Common Raven.
I have wondered about this, too. Here are some possible answers: http://srel.uga.edu/outreach/ecoviews/ecoview110320.htm
Leslie, that is a insightful reference — thank you. I have long recognized the greater agility of smaller birds, but continue to find the behaviour odd. Maybe it is just a case that the larger raptors cannot be bothered to respond, so the ravens persist in the behaviour.
Bernd Heinrich wrote several excellent books on ravens which sometimes touch upon these kinds of interactions.
I think ravens and birds of prey are a fair fight. Crows don’t have a chance. The raven has sharp claws all right but even scarier is a bottom mandible shaped just like a massive chisel and easily capable of hammering off rock solid chunks from a frozen roadkill. It could split the skull of almost any bird in a second.
It comes down to a risk analysis which survival adaptation has honed. The eagle decided, probably wisely, that there is food available with far less risk to itself so it runs away. An injury to an eye would mean that it doesn’t survive, so the meal has to be worth far more than the risk involved in getting it.