top 10 of the worlds largest eagles (1 Viewer)

[scuba0095]

Hello

I am just going to make a guess here but I would just like some of the more experienced bird watchers to let me know of any flaws. According to what I have researched in terms of "weight" I have come to the conclusion these are the 10 worlds largest eagles.


1. stellers sea eagle

2. harpy eagle


3. monkey eating eagle

4. white tailed sea eagle

5. bald eagle

6. golden eagle

7 martial eagle

8. african black eagle

9. crowed eagle

10. wedge tailed eagle.

 

[tonerro]

more like.....
1.harpy eagle
2.philipine eagle
3.stellers fish eagle
4.martial eagle
5.wedge tailed eagle
6.white tailed sea eagle
7 golden eagle
8.bald eagle
9.crowned eagle
10.imperial eagle

 

[Colin]

I would agree with tonerro on the order of the first three and these three would also be the largest on wingspan I would guess.

Colin

 

[tonerro]

thanks a lot...i think the martial eagle ranks fourth,too.but the wedge tail has a longer wingspan than most eagles

 

[johnraven]

There was also the Haast's Eagle of New Zealand, which was bigger than all of the above (it eat moas for breakfast) but was (presumably) wiped out by the Maori's (it possibly had a go at them too).

 

[Otto McDiesel]

There was also the Haast's Eagle of New Zealand, which was bigger than all of the above (it eat moas for breakfast) but was (presumably) wiped out by the Maori's (it possibly had a go at them too).

And the Thunderbird of the Americas had a wingspan of at least 12 feet.

 

[Forest Knights]

Has anyone on here seen all 10?

That would be something.

I plan to go to Japan soon to try and view the Stella.

 

[Steve G]

thanks a lot...i think the martial eagle ranks fourth,too.but the wedge tail has a longer wingspan than most eagles

African Crowned Eagle is bulkier & longer-bodied than Martial Eagle & it probably has a more powerful talon-grip.
Being a forest eagle it is shorter-winged but has very broad wings giving a huge surface area which along with the long broad tail give excellent lift.
Crowned Eagle was one of the suggested candidates to have inflicted the puncture wound in the skull of the Taung child (one of the first fossil hominids to be identified -a juvenile Australopithecus africanus found in a Transvaal cave by Raymond Dart) but this is more speculation than established fact. :brains:

 

[luke]

i always thought the white tailed eagle was in the top four?

 

[tonerro]

well,from all the articles i have read so far ,the martial eagle is always mentioned as africa's largest eagle

 

[Amazonas_Alex]

I have seen Harpy eagles attacking adult howler monkies at several occasions here in South-east Colombia, altough I have never seen one suceed with the howlers, but they regulary catch juvenile spider monkies and adult brocket deers and you should remeber that both these species are large preys for an eagle.

 

[ceasar]

And the Thunderbird of the Americas had a wingspan of at least 12 feet.

Are you sure you don't mean wheelbase?
Bob

 

[elRey]

Martial Eagles have predated adult duikers weighing up to 37 kg (82 lbs) they'll even eat caracals according to wiki. Although, I didn't read the academic papers quoted.

 

[Chosun Juan]

In zoological terms, the 'largest' corresponds to the heaviest. The top 3 are pretty much?! sorted:- 1. Steller's Sea Eagle,
=2nd? Harpy Eagle + Philippene Eagle. There's so much 'loose' information out there you'd need to do a Phd in it to get it factually correct!

The rest can be harder to pin down, since Wedge-tailed Eagles, and Golden Eagles can exhibit much size variation over their ranges /habitat types (as too can Bald Eagles). There's no doubt either, that the White-tailed Eagles are large, and some of the Eagles from Africa are powerful hunters. Some of the wingspan data for the Martial Eagle is a little thin on the ground, and perhaps the dodgier stuff just gets repeated. Certainly from proportional examination, they don't have a wider wingspan than Wedge-tailed Eagles.

From personal encounters, I find the figures quoted for Wedge-tails to be on the small (conservative) side, probably because they are averaged out over the country's ~4000km from north to south (generally smaller north and increasing in size as you go south - The endangered Tasmanian Wedge-Tailed Eagles (are reported to be 112cm length, and 2.5m wingspan [with 2.84m recorded], and weights of over 5.77kg for females - comparable with the largest Goldens recorded [so that's how the Tasmanian Tiger disappeared?! :eek!:]).

I've had several close encounters with "wedgies" of 2.5m+ wingspan, and they scared the bejayzus out of me!
I've also had near attacks by several 6ft tall kangaroos as well - so have a pretty good handle on the sizes involved !! FMD |8.|



I've posted these elsewhere, and they may warrant repeating here:

I've seen footage on TV (although I'm st*ffed if I can remember any details) of two wedgies hunting, killing, and eating an adult dingo.
That's two raptors of ~9lb and ~12lb killing a ~40lb wild dog.
From memory, it looked to be in the arid regions, so I'd say the dingo was already having a tough time - before the eagles turned up to make it a really bad day.
They seemed to adopt a 'harassing' dive-bombing strategy to drive the dog to exhaustion (unsure of the exact timeframes involved), then they would attack the back of the spine and also the neck / head region, finally bringing the dingo down and killing it.

They are also meant to drag goats (feral) off mountainsides (to be despatched courtesy of gravity - and a sudden stop!) ala some of the other footage out there....

I've read studies where ~1/7 recorded prey items were foxes (11%) and feral cats (4%), although those size match ups are more even......

I've also seen TV footage of a wedgie killing an 2/3 size Eastern-Grey Kangaroo (again I'm st*ffed if I.....)
That's a ~12lb raptor killing a ~60lb roo, swooping down behind the fleeing roo and killing it with a single strike to the back of the head, piercing the hind talon straight into the brain.

Well this is not that footage, but this is some footage of some wedgies havin' a go (for whatever reason) at a 5ft roo (would stand close to 6&1/2ft tall when standing on their tails as they do in serious fights with each other) - which is a big roo - could easily kick the livin sh*t out of you! (likely to weigh over twice, of the one I saw above; ie. ~130lb+++)

This roo is fightin' for his life ..... and in the end decides to employ life preservation technique no. #1 (i.e. nikovski !!).

Check out the size of the wedgies ...... makes the 5ft roo look like a mouse !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xElYBEpHiu4

Here's a link to a pic of a big 'Red' roo (can get to over 2m) - check out the size of the agates! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/RedRoo.JPG

It never ceases to amaze me, how hard these magnificent creatures, have to battle just to survive, every - single - day......

Chosun :gh:

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Has anyone on here seen all 10?

That would be something.

I've seen 7 of 10. Still need Stellar's, Philippine, and Crowned.

 

[Chosun Juan]

Jeff, have you seen the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle? (Aquila audax fleayi).
Like the Philippine Eagle, it also is Endangered, maybe critically so, with low breeding numbers / success, and less than 440 adults remaining in the wild.
It is subject to similar pressures (population, urbanisation, old growth forest logging, rural, and forestry practices, etc) ...... :-C

Ok, after a bit of searching through the material (mostly ~unreferenced - Wiki etc - [hard to tell whether some weights are normal maximums* or averages], nor peer reviewed), here's what numbers I could manage to dig up:

my list (refers to weights = average for species, ie. includes both male and female) ....

1. Steller's Sea Eagle...........6.95kg (15.3lbs)
2. Harpy Eagle....................6.50kg (14.3lbs)
3. Philippine Eagle...............6.35kg (14.0lbs)
4. White-tailed Eagle............5.00kg (11.0lbs)
5. Bald Eagle.......................4.90kg (10.8lbs)
6. Golden Eagle...................4.65kg (10.2lbs)
7. Martial Eagle...................4.60kg (10.1lbs)
8. Wedge-tailed Eagle...........4.44kg (9.80lbs)
9. Verreaux's Eagle..............4.40kg (9.70lbs)
10.Crowned Eagle................3.63kg (8.00lbs)

Having said that, I think there are a number of points to consider:
(i) We are concerned with the "largest" = heaviest. Therefore since all eagles exhibit sexual dimorphism (where females are larger than males), I think it is perfectly reasonable to consider the average of female weights only.
(ii) Further, there are a number of species affected by Bergmann's rule (ie. increasing size at larger latitudes = further away from the equator), particularly such as Golden Eagles, Wedge-tailed Eagles, and Bald Eagles (Alaska), as well as some others, so again, I think it is perfectly reasonable to consider the largest examples of females by geographic region.
(iii) In addition to this, some landscape /prey availability types, result in specialised even larger sub-species, such as the Golden Eagles of the broader Himalaya Region (Aquila chrysaetos daphanea.spp), and the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax fleayi), so again, I think it is perfectly reasonable to consider this.
=>Those factors inform this next list then, but not including any captive records (as they may be great big fat over-fed birds), or heresay (even though I still think for Wedgies the maximum weights* [figures may have been averages, not range] recorded are underdone - there was a reference to one Tasmanian female of 2.84m wingspan, but no other weight, or length data):

largest eagles by average weight of females, and considering the above

1. Steller's Sea Eagle................................7.90kg (17.4lbs)
2. Harpy Eagle.........................................7.50kg (16.5lbs)
3. Philippine Eagle....................................6.50kg (14.3lbs)
4. Golden Eagle(c.dapahnea.spp)................6.35kg (14.0lbs)
5. Bald Eagle............................................6.20kg (13.6lbs)
6. White-tailed Eagle.................................5.75kg (12.7lbs)
7. Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle(a.fleayi)...5.00kg (11.0lbs)+?
8. Martial Eagle.........................................4.70kg (10.3lbs)
9. Verreaux's Eagle...................................4.45kg (9.80lbs)
10.Crowned Eagle.....................................3.95kg (8.70lbs)


Chosun :gh:


Oh, and by the way boys, THIS !! is the only reference I could find to the Thunderbird!

And the Thunderbird of the Americas had a wingspan of at least 12 feet.

Are you sure you don't mean wheelbase?
Bob

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Jeff, have you seen the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle? (Aquila audax fleayi).

Chosun,

The only wedgies I've seen were way out in the W.A. gold fields between Leonora and Laverton. I haven't been to Tazzie (yet).

Oh, and I have a Thunderbird carving on the wall of my office that I found in Victoria, BC. Does that count as seeing one? 8-P

 

[Birdman7]

Only seen 4 of them! Need to travel a bit more hehe

 

[jogresh]

Just come across this thread - me and a mate had a bet about the largest raptor a few years ago. Luckily i had access to the hefty Raptors of the World Helm book, so did a bit of research. If you say that "biggest" = heaviest, i seem to recall that was Harpy Eagle. However, i found that Wedgies could have the longest wing spans along with the females of a distinct population of Golden Eagles, presumably Siberian but i can't remember now!
Cheers.

 

[Blubeak_2007]

Here are the lists of the top five eagles going on weight, length and, lastly, wingspan. Unless otherwise noted via reference, the figures listed are the median reported for each measurement in the guide Raptors of the World (Ferguson-Lees, et al.), in which only measurements that could be personally verified by the authors were listed.

Source: Ferguson-Lees, J.; Christie, D. (2001). Raptors of the World. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-8026-1. (Wikipedia)

Average Body mass
1. Steller's sea eagle being the heaviest on average at 6.7 kg (15 lb)
2. Philippine eagle placed second at 6.35 kg (14 lb)
3. Harpy eagle placed third at 5.95 kg (13.1 lb)
4. White-tailed eagle - 4.8 kg (11 lb)
5. Martial eagle - 4.6 kg (10 lb)

Average length
1. Philippine eagle - 100 cm
2. Harpy eagle - 95.5 cm
3. Wedge-tailed eagle - 95.5 cm
4. Steller's sea eagle - 95 cm
5. Crowned eagle - 87.5 (10 ft. 10 in)

Longest wingspan on Average
1. White-tailed eagle - 218.5 cm (7.2 ft.)
2. Steleer's sea eagle - 212.5 cm (7.0 ft.)
3. Wedge-tailed eagle - 210 cm (6.11 ft.)...

They could be measured variously in total length, body mass or wingspan. Different lifestyle needs among various eagles result in variable measurements from species to species. For example, many forest-dwelling eagles, including the very large Harpy and Philippine Eagles, have relatively short wingspans, a feature necessary for being able to maneuver in quick, short bursts through dense forested habitats. On the other hand, eagles in the genus Aquila are found almost strictly in open country, are superlative soarers, and have relatively long wings for their size.