The largest eagles: species, description

This large bird, floating freely and freely in the sky, causes admiration for its inaccessibility, majesty and incredible power. It is not for nothing that in many folk tales it occupies the majestic place of the king of all birds.

In this article, the largest eagles of the world and Russia, or rather, some of them, will be presented. These are delightful and graceful giants with an unbelievably huge sweep of powerful and powerful wings.

About Eagles

In nature, there is a huge family of eagles, which includes many species of eagles. However, in Russia there are not so many of them: the golden eagle, the gravedigger, the dwarf, the hawk, the steppe, the big and the small earthen.

Each of these species is peculiar, has certain features in structure, in size, in habitats and habits. About all this and about what the biggest eagles exist on earth, will be told in this article.

Golden eagle

Of all the known species of eagles, the golden eagle is one of the most powerful and beautiful. The sweep of its powerful wings reaches 2 meters. And its tail, playing the role of the helm and giving maneuverability and speed, is also rather big. In connection with this, there is practically no chance of salvation for the eagle that is marked with a golden eagle.

Beak of a golden eagle represents a powerful weapon. In its shape it is large and curved. With its cutting edges, the golden eagle is capable of cutting the skin of the victim to pieces. And this is not the most important weapon. He also has powerful powerful claws, with which he grabs and kills the animal he captures.

The eagle eagles are hunting for a variety of animals: rodents (marmots, ground squirrels and rabbits), birds (black grouses and wood grouses), small ungulates. Even turtles sometimes become his victim, although they have, it would seem, a reliable shell. In the latter case, the cunning of this wise bird plays an important role. She throws the caught turtle from a height, thanks to which the shell is broken against the stones, and the delicious tenderest meat becomes the food of the golden eagle.

The nest of this bird is huge, up to 2 meters in diameter, and up to one meter high. In the inner part of his home the eagle eagles lays wool, scraps of skins, branches of trees with leaves, fresh coniferous branches. In nature, you can find nests, built by him, even at an altitude of about 3000 meters.

Andean condor

It is a larger bird in the Andes and the Pacific coast. Three meters is the span of the wings of the condor. This giant is known for its collar of white feathers on the neck on the background of a beautiful shiny black plumage, as well as a crest on its head.

It feeds mainly on carrion, but can also hunt medium sized birds, and also likes to feed eggs. In total, a condor can eat for one sitting about 6 kilograms of meat.

These giants live rather high in the mountains, and they arrange their nests almost at a 5-meter height.

Peregrine Falcon

The bird has a name, which in Latin means "traveling", and it's deserved. She travels almost everywhere, visiting the northern European countries, Asia, America, while flying to Central Africa.

The dark-gray shade of the upper body of the bird has triangular spots, and the lower, yellowish tone, - dark stripes. Spotted feathers have a blue-black color.

The place of nesting of this giant bird is large forests interspersed with rocks. Peregrine falcon is nesting in the crevices of steep rocks, but more often it prefers abandoned habitation of vultures and eagles. About 50 years ago, it was seen even on high-rise buildings in European cities.

The main food of Peregrine Falcons is birds (from larks to geese). Not for nothing they are called pigeons. During the hunt for prey, birds develop a huge speed, and therefore it often happens that the victim, after diving, is saved, and the predator itself is broken about the barrier.

A great hunter of peregrine falcon. However, like other falcons, he, when pursued by other predators, throws his captured victim. Than and use other artful birds of prey. They often lie in wait for peregrine falcon to get easy prey.

Peregrine Falcons, like many of the largest eagles, have been used by humans for a long time as a hunting bird. It differs from other hunting eagles with slightly smaller size, short tail and strongly bent beak.

The Philippine Harpy

This strong predatory bird of the hawk family is called monkey in another way. The Philippine Harpy is one of the rarest large birds in the world. She dwells only in the Philippines, in the rainforests. This bird is one of the main national symbols of the country, and it is under state protection. Her murder is punishable by the Philippine laws of twelve years of imprisonment and a major fine.

Dimensions of the Philippine harpy are impressive: the length is from 80 to 100 cm, the width of the wingspan is about 220 cm. The long tail and comparatively short wings allow this bird to maneuver quite easily in a dense forest.

The head of the bird is whitish-buffy with a crest of narrow and long feathers with a brown color on the side of the back and wings on the wings, and on the tail with darker transverse bands. The belly is ocher-whitish in color.

A bird has a tall and very large beak.

In conclusion about some interesting facts

The biggest eagles that exist today on earth, it turns out, are not so huge. In 2000, The Times published a sensational report that New Zealand archaeologists found the skeletons of giant eagles. Scientists with the help of various studies have established that the weight of the birds found could reach 20 kg, which, most likely, did not allow them to rise to a greater height. Another curious fact is that old tools of labor, made from the bones of large birds, were discovered.

Sensational results were obtained when comparing DNA. It turned out that the remains belong to the huge eagles that once inhabited New Zealand.

And the DNA of this ancient species did not coincide with any of the modern species. Only a dwarf eagle on DNA reminds these birds. Giant eagles fed more small birds (similar to geese), which were available to humans. In this regard, their population rapidly declined, and eventually they completely died out. And after them were also doomed giant eagles, who lost their main source of food.