AUBURN – A chance sighting by an Oxford man may have helped save the lives of two eagles that got into what appeared to be a territorial fight and crashed to the ground.

After seeing what he could only describe as “a big something” plummet to the Earth on Saturday, Jim Bowie pulled his car over to investigate. In a small gully, where a brook tumbles toward the Androscoggin River, he found two eagles locked together.

State wildlife biologist Charles Todd said the most likely explanation is that two male birds were involved in a territorial dispute. When eagles spar, they normally lock talons, spiral together and break away, he said.

But in this case, it appeared that the eagles hit the ground before they could break away and they apparently didn’t want to let go.

Wildlife rehabilitator Sherri Brooks was called to help rescue the birds.

Brooks spooked the birds as she was about to wrap one of them with a towel. The eagles then burst apart.

One eagle flew away within about a minute. But the other one, bloodied by the fight, flew up to a branch about 10 feet off the ground and sat preening its feathers. It may have injured a wing, which could be serious, Todd said, but for the time being it was safe from predators.

“This bird could be sore. He could have some more serious injuries or he could be just a little shocked,” Todd said. “But time will tell.”

Bowie was heading home to Oxford with his family after a day in Bath when he spotted the eagles.

“We didn’t know what they were, but they were so big we just had to check it out,” said Bowie.

Looking over the bank into the brook, he saw two mature eagles, their white heads gleaming, locked together with the cold water ruffling their dark, outstretched wings.

Bowie ran back to the nearest house along Riverside Drive, where Dave and Kim Caron let him call the Auburn police. Joan Gagne, who owns the land Bowie had crossed, had already called the police to report trespassers on her land.

Todd, explaining his interpretation of the eagle entanglement later, said Maine’s eagle population is increasing and a male trying to find a home may spar with another in an established territory.

A male might also be defending his nest, but there are no known eagles’ nests in Auburn. The closest are in Greene and Lisbon.