Tussling eagles tumble to the tarmac at a Minnesota airport

Two bald eagles made a crash landing at an airport in Minnesota on Sunday after a conflict that led them to lock talons while flying, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

Whatever dispute had the eagles wrestling mid-air left them unwilling — or perhaps unable — to disentangle themselves before they hit the tarmac, Randy Hanzal, a conservation officer, told the local newspaper.

They took the battle straight to the ground where Hanzal photographed the birds locked together on the pavement with their claws clasped together.

Hanzal told GrindTV that when he arrived to bring the birds to a wildlife rehabilitation centre, they seemed more concerned about winning the battle than paying any mind to the man who was lifting them into a truck.

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On the way to the rehab centre, the officer said one of the eagles leaped from the back of the truck and flew away. The other received treatment for cuts and a puncture to its abdomen, according to the News Tribune.

Eagles often fight over territory, but usually they let go before smashing into the ground, a bird observatory director told the newspaper.

The American bald eagle is a success story for wildlife recovery, with the population declining nearly to the point of extinction before returning to thriving numbers, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

The north shore of Lake Ontario recently became home to the first bald eaglets born there in decades, according to the CBC.

Perhaps they'll soon have rivalries of their own.

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