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Just at that moment the Lord of the Eagles swept down from above, siezed him in his talons, and was gone.
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Actually, the evidence given in this thread can leave little doubt that the 'Lord' of the Eagles in The Hobbit was in fact Gwaihir.
He was very long-lived, in that case -- quite adult in the Hobbit, and still young-seeming and fit enough to do battle with the hosts of Mordor, fly swiftly and carry people around the place. But then so was Thorondor, who apparently survived with similar vigour throughout the First Age. We don't know what happened to him, but I have an idea that he may, after Beleriand was broken, have returned to Taniquetil and to Manwe. Perhaps Gwaihir was alive then, and took over leadership of the Eagles directly after, although that seems unlikely -- Eagles were slain, and probably frequently returned to Valinor to be, perhaps, replaced by others. Mount Everwhite was their home, and they reported directly to Manwe.
It would therefore seem that the Eagles are not simply normal birds of prey, animals. They were far more brainy for a start, on that level of true, high intelligence; more than that, they seem to be strongly connected to Manwe and the Valar. Manwe, it was said, in fact sent them to Middle-Earth in the first place. They seemed to be able to report back to him on Taniquetil, reaching him by flight. What were they? It is probable that they are a strain of Maiar. There is also the strange possibility that they were a different race of some sort, little-documented, the knowledge of their roots hidden, created by Illuvitar to serve the Valar and to live in Middle-Earth.
They seem to be the two possibilies, don't you think?