January
10th is the Save The Eagles Day, and we decided to raise awareness of
this day and eagles in general by writing a post dedicated to these
magnificent birds. The Save The Eagles Day was started as one of the
campaigns to save the bald eagle, who was facing extinction in the 20th
century and the efforts were successful as it was removed from the list
of endangered and threatened wildlife in 2007. The national animal of
the USA and a symbol of power, courage, and freedom, the bald eagle has
been saved, but the future of some other species is still uncertain,
making Save The Eagles Day topical every year. To show you how amazing
creatures eagles actually are, we compiled this post with some
Interesting Facts About Eagles That Might Change The Way You See Them.
|
|
Currently, there are about 60 species of eagles. Most of them live in
Eurasia and Africa, but some species can be also found in the Americas
as well as in Australia.
|
|
The world's largest eagles (such as the
Harpy eagle and the Philippine eagle), have a wingspan of more than 250
cm (8 ft) and have been known to kill and carry off prey as large as
deer, goats, and monkeys.
|
|
In most eagle species, females are larger and stronger than males.
|
|
Some eagles, such as the martial eagle, are capable of soaring for long
hours without a single wing beat. They use thermals (columns of hot
rising air) to do that.
|
|
Eagles’ eyes have a million light-sensitive cells per square mm of
retina, five times more than humans. While humans see just three basic
colors, eagles see five. These adaptations gives eagles extremely sharp
eyesight and enable them to spot even well-camouflaged potential prey
from a very long distance.
|
|
The largest known kill by an eagle was a duiker deer weighing 37 kg (82
lb), which was up to 8 times more than the weight of the martial eagle
that killed it.
|
|
Measuring up to 102 cm (3.35 ft) in length and weighing up to 8 kg (17.6
lb), the Philippine eagle is one of the largest, heaviest, and strongest
eagles in the world. Unfortunately, it is also one of the rarest birds
as it is critically endangered. Killing this bird in the Philippines
(where it is the national animal) is punishable under local law by up to
12 years in jail.
|
|
The largest tree nest ever recorded for any animal species was built by
the bald eagle. It was 4 m (13 ft) deep, 2.5 m (8.2 ft) wide, and 1
metric ton (1.1 short tons) in weight.
|
|
Eagles are
very intelligent birds. For example, in Greece, golden eagles eat
turtles, dropping them from great heights onto rocks to break open their
armored carapaces.
|
|
Bald eagles are not bald. The name derives from an older meaning of the
word, derived from piebald, referring to their white heads.
|
|
Similar to horses, who can sleep while standing up, eagles have a
specialized mechanism in their feet that allows them to lock in position
so they can sleep while sitting on a branch. |