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Birds of Prey

Carnivorous birds, also known as raptors, are birds that prey on other vertebrates; mainly mammals, reptiles, and other birds. Some are carrion eaters. Birds that prey primarily on fish, like gulls and cormorants, are usually listed in other categories. Raptors come in all sizes. One of the smallest is the African Pigmy Falcon. It primarily eats reptiles and insects, but small birds and rodents are occasionally on its diet, too.

Among birds at the other end of the size scale are two types of vultures, both carrion eaters; California condors and Andean condors; the latter with a wing span of over 10 feet, the longest of any raptor in the world. (The wandering albatross has the longest wingspan at nearly 12 feet.)

In spite of appearances, the Andean condor below isn't telling a story about the sakana (fish) that got away. It is sunning its wings to warm up in the sunlight and keep its feathers healthy.

Eagles (washi)

With the exception of some vultures like the condors, eagles--apex predators--are the largest raptors. There are 60 species of eagles around the world. They are generally divided into four categories: fish eagles, harpy eagles, booted eagles, and snake eagles. Two native species of eagle in North America are the golden eagle and the bald eagle. I haven't seen which of those four categories the golden and bald eagles belong to, but from their appearance, it seems like they may be booted eagles.

Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)

The golden eagle is the most widely distributed species of eagle. They are dark brown with lighter golden-brown plumage on the backs of their necks. Their average wingspan is 6 feet and 9 inches. When diving, they can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour. Like all eagles (and raptors in general), their eyesight is phenomenal; far better than human eyesight.

Most often, golden eagles eat hares, rabbits, marmots and other ground squirrels. They can also take down foxes, large birds, sheep, goats, deer fawns and even adults. They have been seen grabbing chamois and ibex and throwing them off mountain cliffs where the fall almost always kills them. Their talons have a ratchet-like mechanism that clamps down on prey with a grip that is 10 times stronger than that of humans, making it almost impossible to detach them from what they are after.

A subspecies of the golden eagle lives in Japan, but it is severely endangered. Numbers have plummeted in recent years, and there are only about 500 left.

Humans sometimes use golden eagles for hunting, most notably these days in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. This photo was taken in Kyrgyzstan.

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

The bald eagle, North America's other eagle species, is this nation's national bird and is depicted on its coat of arms.

The US Presidential Seal is similar. There are 50 stars in the outer ring of stars. The seal was designed in 1945 but was updated when Alaska and Hawaii were made states in 1959 and 1960.

In the debate about what our national bird should be, Benjamin Franklin wrote that the eagle on a draft design more resembled a turkey than an eagle. He then criticized the choice of the eagle, saying that the "Bald Eagle ... is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly ... [he] is too lazy to fish for himself." Franklin liked turkeys better. In comparison with eagles, the turkey is "a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America. He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage."

Based on the photos below, Benjamin Franklin's view of bald eagles as being too lazy to fish for themselves suggests that his experience with them may have been limited.

The bald eagle's diet consists mainly of fish, but it also eats birds, mammals, and other prey. Bald eagles weigh 6 to14 pounds on average and fly at speeds in excess of 75 miles per hour when diving. The largest bald eagles can carry weights of 7 to 8 pounds in sustained flight under ideal conditions. They have been seen lifting up to 15 pounds for short distances.

Bald eagles build the largest nests ever recorded for any animal species, and they reuse them year after year, continually adding to them. One nest in Florida was found that was 20 feet deep, 9.5 feet across, and weighed about 6,000 pounds.

The sexes have identical plumage, but females are 25% larger than males. Bald eagles aren't really bald. That idea comes from the white feathers on their heads. The rest of their plumage is dark brown.

Eggs are often laid in late February and hatched from mid-April to early May. The young are capable of flying from late June to early Jul

Bald eagles have been close to extinction, but they are making a comeback. In the mid 19th century, an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 bald eagles were in existence. By the 1950s, there were only 412 nesting pairs. DDT is responsible for much of the loss. Other reasons were habitat loss, and legal and illegal shooting. With legal protections now in place and DDT having been banned, the bald eagle population has rebounded. By 1990, the bald eagle population was an estimated 110,000 to 115,000. The U.S. government reclassified bald eagles from "endangered" to "threatened" in 1995, and they were delisted in 2007 in the lower 48 states but are still protected.

This couple is doing their share in helping the recovery.

Eagles vs. Modern Technology

In 2020, a State of Michigan government drone on an erosion mapping mission over lake Michigan was attacked by a bald eagle. The eagle won, and the drone is somewhere on the bottom of the lake. Fortunately, the drone was mostly done with its mission and was transmitting its camera view live to a remote recorder.

Lin Liang (1424－1500)

Eagles have been popular painting subjects for many centuries as shown by this Ming Dynasty painting by Lin Liang.

Kanō Tan'yū (1602 - 1674)

Tan'yū was one of the greatest painters of the long lasting Kanō school, founded during Japan's Muromachi period (1338 - 1573). He was appointed to become the Tokugawa shogunate's first official painter in 1617 when he was only about 15 years old. He was given many highly prestigious commissions. Specializing in large-scale works in the 1620s and 1630s, he did this Eagle and Pine Tree painting on fusuma (sliding doors) at Nijō Castle in Kyōtō in 1626. The painting is on gold leaf.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760 - 1849)

Hokusai was one of Japan's greatest ukiyo-e artists, but the majority of his output was on other media. His Eagle in a Snowstorm (1848), below, is ink on paper. I saw it in peron when it was on loan for a special exhibition of his work in the San Diego Museum of Art many years ago. This photo from the web doesn't do it justice. The painting is sizable, allowing for fine detail. The pink patches on his breast are skin exposed by the wind blowing downy feathers aside. The snow pattern was created by flinging a loaded brush at the paper.

Imao Keinen (1845 - 1924)

Trained as an artist from age 12, Keinen was part of the shin-hanga movement, specializing in kacho-ga (birds and flowers paintings). He received many honors in his lifetime. Keinen is most remembered for a book published in 1892 titled Keinen Kachō Gafu. His Golden Eagle painting is from that book.

Design in Wood (2022)

The San Diego County's annual Design in Wood exhibit can always be counted on to feature many carved animals, a popular category. This year, there were three or four bald eagles on display. I think this is the best of them. Unfortunately, I didn't get the artist's name, but I think he won a prize.