White-tailed eagle

This bird is called in different ways: both the Steller's sea eagle, the grayish one, and the sea eagle, but more widely it is known to ornithologists under the name of the Whitetail. Once these predatory birds have been ubiquitous near rivers and large bodies of water, in quiet, deserted places, in coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests.

The range of their habitat is huge: from the Arctic to the southern deserts. In the steppes, these predators preferred marshes. In Ukraine gray-haired animals were observed in the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester melts as far back as the 50s of the last century, until the terrain changed beyond recognition as a result of the construction of hydroelectric power stations and reservoirs.

Now the white-tailed eagle is included in the International Red Book, as well as the national Red Books of many countries. But even the protection of the law can not help the beautiful birds to do much: the fact is that these wild birds choose wild places for nesting - dense impassable thickets near the banks of rivers or lakes. And there are fewer and fewer such places on our planet, so that the only ban on hunting is unlikely to be a rescue for this endangered species. Nowadays, the bird is still found everywhere only along the shores of the Arctic Ocean, Baikal, in the Caspian and the Azov Sea. In other regions, it can rarely be found, except in reserves and bird sanctuaries (Northern Black Sea Coast, Askania-Nova and others).

But in countries where conservation is at the heart of these feathered predators can still be found quite often. In the US, this species enjoys special glory. After all, this bird flaunts on ... the national coat of arms of the country. In the arms of many countries there are heraldic birds (for example, the eagle in Russia, or the kiwi in New Zealand), but the white-tailed eagle is the first "national" bird in the world. She decorated the coat of arms of the United States of America in 1782. By the way, there are six species of eagles in North America , but it was the white-tailed one that was recognized as the most worthy to position the country.

Our national pride can be amused by the fact that the Russian white-tailed eagle is much larger than its overseas brother. If the American and Canadian representatives have a body length of about 75 cm in males and one meter in females, the wingspan is one and a half meters and the weight is about 4 kilograms, then our birds have one wingspan of what it costs - it can be up to two And a half meters, and weight - from four to seven kilograms. More large in our lands can only be a mountain golden eagle.

To imagine how this feathered handsome looks, it is not enough just to look at the US coat of arms - there the eagle is depicted stylized. But the first impression does not deceive: indeed, the bird is more like a griffin than an eagle, because of a disproportionately large beak on a small head and an elongated neck on which a white napkin is tied. The adult white-tailed eagle has a back of a dark brown color, a lighter belly and neck, yellow legs and a beak, amber eyes and black-brown fly feathers. The main feature of the species is the snow-white tail, which in young animals can be of marble or light brown color. Also, the indicator of a young bird's age is a dark beak and gray or light yellow paws. Both sexes have the same color.

In the tundra and northern forests, the white-tailed eagle appears only in the spring, flying to the south in the autumn, and in southern Ukraine it can lead a sedentary life. Birds are huge (up to two meters in diameter!) Nest on a very high and powerful tree near the pond. In the summer they hunt for fish, snatching it from the water with claws, however, it is not uncommon for predators to dive after it to the depths. Also their catch is waterfowl birds - ducks, eiders. In winter, if the pond is covered with ice, eagles lie in wait for marmots, ground squirrels and even can overcome a hare. But do not disdain and carrion. In their nest, usually two chicks, which become able to fly by August. A couple of birds are kept together for several years and return to their nest, strengthening and expanding it in every possible way.