Maaaate! The Wedgie is the 4th largest species of eagle in the world and it's talons can tear through kangaroo hide. I'd be worried about that parachute.
Maybe you can get in touch with the local bird protection agency, locate the nests, and make rules to avoid flying just over it. This bird looses a lot of energy having to deal with your wing.
@@faronanderson2536 yes but protecting offsprings is costly energy-wise. What is spent fighting disturbances is not spent hunting. Of course we know that they fly well, they are leading us in the thermals.
@@olivierpercebois-garve5506 well maybe being that deficient in recognizing a non-threat and subsequently starving themselves of readily usable energy is enough of an incentive to adapt their behavioral deadends to a more sustainable sort.
Having lived in WA where Sam is from and seeing them up close (It's our football teams mascot, they fly a tamed one around the football ground as pre-match entertainment) I know they have a wingspan up to 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in) and a length up to 1.06 m (3 ft 6 in) SERIOUSLY SCARY BIRDS I would have been wearing brown pants by the end of that flight. They are constantly taking out high powered commercial drones used by mining companies for access and safety clearance/inspections. Anyone that is saying this wasn't an attack needs their head read. It was Sam's dodging the eagle that saved him from a torn chute, not the eagle wanting to go light on him. Well done mate for your clever flying! LEGEND
I think people are wilfully ignorant - it’s pretty clear that thing dove down to attack multiple times, I’ve seen them take out kangaroos so have no problems attacking while you’re vulnerable in the air - if you hadn’t of invaded, you would’ve been hit; I mean that’s literally how these birds fight each other anyway.
Probably way too close to her nest. You were in her restricted air space. Better stay outta those parts. Next time might not go so smoothly if she decides to not be nice and let you live.
no contact was made but the eagle made it plain and clear that this was its territory. contact (tearing holes in the paraglider) would have been serious. i don't think i've seen videos from any place other than australia where birds attack model planes, drones or paragliders. edit - there are some.
To those of you who think this doesn't look like an attack, you can see the eagle was following the paraglider, and flying too close and too erratic for comfort. You don't want a bird near your aircraft. Whether or not the eagle was being malicious, it was definitely harassing the pilot, who was just trying to avoid it.
abledbody Lol, a malicious eagle! Haha The eagle was trying to get this guy away from her territory. I thought it was very cool, except the flipping the bird part.
Er, I don't think they soar with wings spread when they attack. They fold their wings in for speed and swoop in with a very aerodynamic water drop shape. When birds attack, you get very short notice.
I laughed at the middle finger gesture at 0.48, I wonder if the eagle thought "oh no, he gave me the middle finger, I better leave this bloke alone" 😜😅😅🤣
I went to fly the ridge in West Rutland Vermont for my first time and another pilot and I were attacked by a resident bald eagle. We were standing on the launch ramp and the eagle was soaring the ridge lift out front. I was in the middle of a conversation and heard a wooshing sound at my right. I turned my head to see the eagle flying very fast and right toward me. I hit the deck and just barely got out of the way and the eagle hit the guy next to me with it's talons. That guy ended up with a very deep 2 inch (50 mm) cut on his cheek. It took a lot of stitches to close that wound. If an eagle is nesting nearby they can be total monsters so look out.
Eagle: well here I was checking out that weird thing in shorts crowding my airspace... Paraglider: *gives finger* Eagle: ...and I took that personally. Yeah, that's a casus belli right there.
Back in 1976, I was flying a hang glider from the Paps, near Mansfield Victoria. There were 5 Wedgies that flew around there. On one flight, I was joined y one and for 20 minutes was directed to the best lift bands by the eagle. It just flew level with my right wingtip, about 2m away. No screeching, just a very superior look at me. It would move away to right and I'd follow or move in front to the left and I'd move that way, after each move it would resume its position near my right wingtip. We soared in lovely lift bands together, never any aggressive moves, it was like it was showing me around. That was the flight of my life for 20 minutes that close to the king of Australia's sky. BLISS!
Wow!!! 2 meters!!! That's pretty darn close!!! What was your initial reaction? Were you intimidated or scared or anything as soon as he got next to you? Do you think he was probably sizing you up in retrospect? Just curious, but definitely an occurrence in your life that will last you forever! Totally amazing! I don't know how I would have reacted. If I may ask, how old were you in 1975? Finally, would you do it again? In my opinion, I guess one could say you already cheated death once already mate lol 🤷♂️ 🪂🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
@hiphoplover1974 No, at no time was I worried about how he acted. I was not making aggressive moves so what would be his reason to attack. Animals only attack for good reasons, not like humans. Besides, the endorphins were flowing from flying, so I was relaxed mentally.
Reminds of the scuba diving equivalent of a trigger fish. Very aggressive if you swim near their underwater nest. In fact, we got a pre-dive briefing about dangers and they said nothing about sharks or rays - just showed a pic of a trigger fish and how to break off its pursuit. Perhaps there is a sky equivalent for Eagles in pursuit
I live in Ballandean, QLD and we get wedge tails over our property and pretty sure they’ve nested as a month or so ago my girl and I got to watch one of the parents showing one of the young how to fly and use the thermals or whatever and then in the last week I saw two teenagers flying extremely low as I was taking a piss beside my ute about to leave home. I never tire of watching them and I generally dislike birds but there’s something about watching an apex predator and such a majestic bird. I thumbed up this video but I’d never flip them off even if it was attacking me 😬
Sorry to inform that seconds after finishing recording this video the cameramen was killed in a emu atack. The body could not be recovered because the area in question is dangerous kangaroo territory.
