Bald eagles eat mostly fish, but they are flexible predators and scavengers that will take many kinds of animals depending on what is available.

Quick Scoop: What Do Bald Eagles Eat?

  • Main food: Fish such as salmon, trout, herring and other coastal or freshwater species often make up the bulk of their diet.
  • Other birds: They also eat waterfowl and seabirds, including ducks and gulls, especially where fish are less available.
  • Mammals: Small mammals like rabbits, squirrels, muskrats, prairie dogs, raccoons and other rodents are taken when the opportunity arises.
  • Reptiles and others: They may eat reptiles and amphibians such as frogs and turtles, plus occasional shellfish.
  • Carrion (dead animals): Bald eagles readily scavenge carcasses, including roadkill and dead fish or mammals, particularly in winter or near spawning salmon runs.
  • Food stealing: They are famous for stealing prey from other animals (for example, robbing ospreys of their fish), a behavior called kleptoparasitism.
  • Human-related food: Around landfills or other human areas, they may eat trash or discarded animal parts if it is easy to access.

In short, if it’s meat and they can catch it, steal it, or find it already dead, a bald eagle can probably turn it into a meal.

TL;DR: Bald eagles are opportunistic carnivores that prefer fish but also eat birds, small mammals, reptiles, and carrion, and they will steal food from other animals when they can.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.