Cornell Lab of Ornithology – Winged Pirates: Kleptoparasitism as a Lifestyle By Hugh Powell October 15, 2009 If kleptoparasitism seems like the ultimate free lunch, it makes scientists wonder why only certain birds have picked up the habit. Ducks, gulls, hawks, pelicans, and frigatebirds seem especially prone to stealing food, but the behavior seems to be absent from some 180 other families, according to a recent review in Animal Behaviour. Though piracy can seem like a case of simple bullying, the majority of records involve smaller birds stealing from bigger ones (as with drongos and babblers, gulls and pelicans).
I have heard stories about eagles trying to steal the fish caught by humans ice fishing on the pond at Merli-Sarnoski Park in Lackawanna County Pennsylvania.