BOOTED/TRUE EAGLES

Breeding bird of Southern Europe from Spain and Portugal eastwards, North Africa and South Asia to Kentei. Diet consists of birds up to the size of a Partridge, small mammals, and small reptiles like lizards. Call sounds like a high-pitched double whistle. This small eagle, about the size of a buzzard, resemble Egyptian vultures in their pale phase and Wahlberg’s eagles in their dark phase, despite being more variegated brown and more stocky. A woodland bird, it lives in deciduous and coniferous areas in mountainous country. Flies swiftly with artful diving and weaving between trees. If it migrates, booted eagles follow well-known routes and do not cross extensive water masses because it requires long periods of sustained flapping, which they are not equipped for. Their breeding displays are spectacular in-air dives and swoops with a lot of calling.

• Golden Eagles – resides in the open terrain of deserts, mountains, plateaus, and steppes, particularly in mountainous areas of the United States and throughout the Western Hemisphere, Europe, and Asia. Not usually found in heavy forests. Feeds on small mammals and reptiles, like medium-sized rodents, rabbits, hares, birds (especially game birds), reptiles, and carrion. Some eat tortoises by flying with them in their talons and dropping on a rock outcrop to break the shell open. Its body length ranges from 30 to 40”, with a wingspan of 6 ½ to 7 ½ feet. They are named for the golden colored feathers on the back of their heads and are more closely related to hawks than bald eagles.

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