A Clutch of Feathers

• Photographer
  Rakhi Chu

This mother Pharoah Eagle Owl is trying to out-run a raven but is not fast enough. The raven catches up, reaches its talons out, and latches on to the owl’s back feathers. You can see the owl’s feathers clutched in the raven’s talons. Ravens in Dubai are known to raid Eagle Owl nests and this mother owl, in the photo, was likely trying to divert the raven’s attention away from her owlet in the nest (at the base of a ghaf tree close by). Fortunately, however, the Eagle owl was able to free itself of the raven’s talons and fly up into another ghaf tree away from her owlet in the nest.