Amazing Facts about Eagle

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Falconiformes ( or Accipitriformes)

Family: Accipitridae

Eagles are large birds of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species (the Bald and Golden Eagles) can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in Central and South America, and three in Australia.

Amazing Facts about Eagle

1. Eyeball length = 35 mm (human eyeball length = 24 mm)
2. Visual acuity is 2.0 to 3.6 times better (depending on the type of eagel) than that of humans.
3. Bald Eagles are not really bald. Their head is actually covered with white feathers. The white feathers on their head comes when they are 5 or 6 years old. Baby eagles are partially covered with down, but when they leave the nest, they have dark feathers all over. The female can be one third larger than the male. They have wide long wings that help them stay in the air. A Bald Eagles wing span is normally 8 feet.
4. Usually they live near the sea. They only live in trees 75 feet or higher. Bald Eagles add to their nest over and over. Sometimes it can take a pair of eagles as long as six weeks to build their nest for the first time. The eyrie is the large nest made of sticks and lined with twigs and green grass. The heaviest nest ever found is 1 ton. (That's 2000 pounds!)
5. They mate for life. The female may lay from one to three eggs and raises one brood (group) a year. If these eggs are destroyed the female may lay more eggs. It takes four weeks for an eagle egg to hatch. Eaglets grow slowly and need a large amount of food.
6. Bald Eagles normally eat fish. Sometimes they will eat snakes and smaller birds. They have long sharp beaks and curved talons to help hold prey. They can fly with 8 pounds of food. Bald Eagles help man by catching rodents and rabbits that destroy grain fields.
7. Eagles have great eyesight that helps them see for one to one and a half miles away. (Thus the term eagles eye) They can dive at 100 miles per hour. Their eyesight and diving ability help them catch food.