The first known case of a bald eagle “shot through the heart” by a loon has been reported

Before anything else, we have to say that we didn’t know that ducks were different from loons, so we’ve already learned something new! A new report claims that the first documented case of a loon killing a bald eagle was discovered last year.

It comes out of Highland Lake, which is in Maine. A park warden, responding to a call, found a dead bald eagle with a chest puncture beside a dead loon chick (which eagles prey on). However, a radiograph on the bird found no traces of metal. Ooh, the plot thickens.

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And as it turns out, loons and eagles have been increasingly at-odds due to the recovering eagle population. Honestly, we would have thought that the eagles would dominate. But, loons have got pointed bills that allowed them to hunt fish.

So, the theory is that an eagle was craving a little snack and decided that a loon chick would hit the spot. One of the parents must not have liked that idea, so it attacked the eagle and managed to land a fatal blow. For reference, adult male loons often show signs of the exact same injury.

We’ll leave jokes about national animals and politics up to your imagination! You can check out the report in full right here.