Everyone knows that eagles are proud birds. And there are reasons for that. These winged predators are distributed throughout the world. Consider some outstanding species of the eagle family.
Crested eagles are killer birds
The most powerful and formidable raptors of the eagle tribe are some species of giant crested eagles. They live in tropical African and South American forests. For example, a harpy that lives in South America weighs up to … 8 kilograms, while its body length reaches a meter! It is this feathered predator that has the longest, most powerful and merciless claws in the whole world!
It seems incredible, but the favorite delicacy of harpies and other crested eagles are monkeys and large mammals: they steal pigs, dogs from the villages, strangle sloths and other living creatures. In Africa, these birds exterminate antelopes, jackals and baboons. Crested eagles are smart birds. They hunt only from ambush, being for a long time in complete immobility in anticipation of potential prey. These birds are merciless and cold-blooded!
The most predatory bird is the golden eagle
Of course, golden eagles are inferior to harpies in their size, but they are the most powerful and predatory representatives of the eagle family in allNorthern hemisphere of the Earth. No wonder the golden eagle embodies the greatness of the clan of raptors.
The habitat of this bird is quite large. The golden eagle is able to adapt to nesting in a variety of conditions for existence - from forest swamps and swamps to alpine highlands. All eagles are birds with serious demands for life. So the golden eagle needs open and vast air and ground spaces for hunting, and rocks or tall trees for nesting and rest.
The golden eagle's most famous way of hunting is to closely track prey in a soaring flight at a great height, and then - a lightning attack from the skies. Zoologists simply admire this spectacle: a predator folds its wings and throws itself at its prey like a stone. Of course, there is no question of any chance of survival on the part of the victim. Deer, roe deer, calves, foxes, hares, ground squirrels, marmots and other animals become prey for golden eagles.
Eagles and Gophers
One of the phenomenal abilities of all eagles is to look for gophers where there are none. For example, the steppe or white eagle copes well with this. The bird quite often catches ground squirrels, being in an ambush, which, in turn, is arranged right next to the holes of rodents. A predator can lie for hours behind some tubercle, waiting for its favorite delicacy. As soon as the rodent moves away from its mink, the bird rushes at it with lightning speed. The eagle runs clumsily, being tossed from side to side. On the surface, this seems like a real shame for a representative of a respectable eagle family, butThe predator doesn't care at all about what other people think of him. The main thing is to catch the treasured gopher!
But gophers sometimes do not miss either. They recognize raptors by their silhouette in the sky. As soon as they see him, they immediately, bulging their eyes, rush to the saving hole, squeaking anxiously.
