The supreme predator in the air: The eagle!

Eagles have been the symbol of power, freedom, and transcendence from centuries.

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Eagles are one of the largest birds. Most birds will glance over their shoulder in case another predator is hunting them but not eagles. They are at the top of the food chain. And they are quite confident that no one would dare to attack them.

People often get confused between eagles, vultures and hawks. Bald eagles usually soar high with their wings, almost flat. Turkey vulture holds its wings up in a shallow V shape called a dihedral, hawks also fly with slightly raised wings.

There are 60 different species of eagle that are found mostly in Eurasia, Africa, America, and Australia.

But eagles can be divided broadly into four groups; snake eagles, sea eagles, booted eagles, and giant forest eagles. Booted eagles hunt birds, small mammals, rodents and reptiles. Sea eagles or fish eagles eat fish while snake eagles prey on reptiles. Giant forest eagles eat only small forest animals.

The Steller's sea eagle is the heaviest eagle in the world, and the little eagle is the smallest eagle.

The famous golden eagle is the second fastest bird in the world after the peregrine falcon and can fly at a speed of 320 km/h.

The eagle's eye.

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Eagles vision is five times better than that of a human. It is because of millions of light-sensitive cells per square mm of the retina. Their eyes are large, can take up almost half of their head, and can weigh the same amount as a human eye. While humans can see three basic colours, eagles see five and can detect UV light.

Eagle eyes are angled 30 degrees away from the centre of the face, which gives them a greater field of view. These adaptations give eagles extremely sharp eyesight and enable them to spot even well-camouflaged potential prey from a very long distance. Imagine standing up on a 100 storied building and watching a small bug on the ground.

Mating and nesting.

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Eagles mate for life. Females are larger and stronger than males. They use the same nest every year. Nests are composed of sticks, vegetation, and feathers, are built by both males and females. Bald eagles use tall trees while golden eagles use cliff faces for nesting.

The number of eggs laid depend upon species, but mostly they lay two to three eggs. The stronger chick kills its younger sibling once it has hatched and the parents take no action to stop the killing.

Hunting.

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Eagles are the most advanced predators and are at the top of their food chain. Eagles diet depends upon the resources available, but they are mostly carnivorous and eat meat. Eagles are brilliant birds as golden eagle eat turtles by dropping them from heights onto rocks to break open their carapaces.

Some species of eagles have been known to kill and carry off prey as large as deer, goats, monkeys and other small mammals.

Eagles finish their meal right down to the bones as bones provide necessary vitamins for the bird.

Duiker deer weighing 37 kg and up to 8 times the weight of the martial eagle, was the largest known kill by an eagle.

Bald eagle, holds the record of the largest tree nest ever made by any animal species. It was 4m deep and 2.5m wide and weighed one metric tonne.

As many as 25 countries currently have eagles depicted in their coats of arms because eagles were the symbol of heraldry, being considered the "King of Birds," in contrast to the lion, the "King of Beasts."

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