Photo by Valent

At this location it is common to see bald eagles hunting the open water of the river.   

At the top of the menu is fish. They are opportunistic hunters and will eat a large variety of prey including snakes, ducks, small mammals, birds as well as carrion.  They are also know to steel food from others if they can.

Have you ever seen a warning about lead-based paint and how it can make you sick?  Like us, Bald Eagles get sick when lead enters their bodies, Eagles are not out eating paint chips.  Instead, small fragments are unknowing swallowed when an Eagle feasts on carrion (dead animals) shot or hooked with lead ammunition and weights.  Carrion is an easy meal for Eagles, but it only takes a finger nail’s length of lead to make the bird sick.  Without treatment, Eagles will die from this exposure.  For this reason – hunters and anglers are discouraged (and sometimes prohibited by law) from using lead ammunition and weights.   

The following article and video link shows the release of a rehabilitated bald eagle that was conducted in 2018 just across the river on the other side of Outlet Park.  Provided by Kansas State University Veterinary Heath Center         

Conservation is a team effort