interesting eagle facts

September 9, 2009 | In: Animal facts for kids



There are 59 species of eagles.

An average adult bald eagle weighs about nine pounds and is about three feet in height.

Eagles mate for life. The female may lay from one to three eggs and raises one brood (group) a year.

The Bald Eagle is not bald it develops white head and tail feathers around the age of four or five.

Bald eagles may use the same nest year after year, adding more twigs and branches each time. Nests can be as large as 20 feet (6 meters) deep and 9 feet (3 meters) across. One nest was found that had been used for 34 years and weighed over two tons!

Bald eagles can actually swim! They use an overhand movement of the wings that is very much like the butterfly stroke. Sometimes a bald eagle will catch a fish so big that it can’t fly away with its catch, and instead will swim to shore with the fish clutched in its talons.

Eagles fly alone at a high altitude and not with sparrows or mix with other smaller birds.

Eagles do not eat dead things. He feeds on fresh prey.

Eagles tend to use the same nests year after year.

The largest eagle in the world is the great harpy eagle, with a wingspan of seven feet (over two meters). Harpy eagles can weigh over 20 pounds (9 kg), more than twice as much as bald eagles.
Great harpy eagles prey on monkeys, macaws, and sloths, and live in Central and South America.
Unlike most animals, eagles have two focal points in each eye.

These focal areas, called foveae, are areas on the retina with a high concentration of light receptors. This makes it possible to see with high resolution (that is, to see very fine details).
In humans, the focal point of each eye is straight ahead, allowing us to see most effectively at the center of our field of vision. Eagles have two such focal points in each eye: one straight ahead, and one sideways.
Both of these focal points have light receptors that are more concentrated than in humans, allowing eagles to see much better than we can. For example, they can spot a rabbit from two miles (3 km) away!
Eagles share this amazing vision with hawks, falcons, and other species of the falconiforms order. Their excellent vision helps them be efficient hunters.


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