Bald Eagle caught in a viral video: NPR

Bald eagles are generally known for their elegant flight, skillful hunting, and strength and beauty so majestic that they have become the national bird of the United States. But they also have a less known talent: swimming.

Yes, bald eagles are really good at swimming, a fact that some of us have learned this week a viral video published by the New Hampshire TV channel WMUR.

The white head of a bald eagle floats rhythmically in the water. From time to time a wing can be seen as the bird makes an avian equivalent of the butterfly shot. It moves quickly and gracefully in the water, traveling a considerable distance before reaching the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. He walks quietly on the mainland, shaking the water with his feathers before taking a picturesque and vigilant pose.

The video was shot by Tyler Blake, who spotted the screen early in the morning before heading to his construction job.

"I ran to the docks and saw an eagle beating in the water," Blake told WMUR. "I'm like," Wow! "I did not know if it was hurt or anything like that."

In fact, Jim Watson, an eagle researcher with the Washington Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, says that "swimming is not an unusual activity" for these birds.

This is because bald eagles are open water animals that catch fish directly in rivers and lakes. Generally, they will spot a fish on the surface of the water and dive into a diving bomb with the talons stretched out. Watson says that usually, they catch the fish from the surface while keeping their feathers relatively dry, then fly through the air with a delicious meal.

But sometimes, this hunting maneuver becomes a bit more complicated.

"It may have gone as planned, they just took a bigger fish and said," I'm going to stick to that, I can go to shore and it's so a bargain, "said Watson.Or, the bird may have missed the fish and found himself in the water.

Either way, the eagle must start swimming because "their feathers are soaked and they can not fly," says Watson. "Over the years, I have seen them swim many times and that 's usually because they fly away and try to catch a fish in the water and maybe to be gorged with water. "

If she catches a big fish, Watson says the eagle can grab the fish with its talons while it's swimming gracefully toward the shore.

This one does not seem to have any fish, however, which probably means that he has missed or loosened it. And even though a swimming eagle is not necessarily a sign of distress because it's able to swim, Watson says there have been cases of drowning eagles.

"It takes a lot of energy to swim in the water," he says. "It's a natural flight movement … just harder to do in the water."

The eagles have strong flying thoracic muscles. Just like the butterfly shot, Watson says, "they use the ends of the wings and sink into the water with their wings".

This is not the first time that a bald eagle is captured on video. Here is a video posted on YouTube of an Alaskan swimming eagle in 2011 that shows another angle of the powerful movements of the animal: