Large birds of prey with huge hooked beaks and powerful talons. “Eagle” isn’t one natural group: it covers about 68 species big enough to hunt sizeable vertebrates.
Quick answers
What is it?Bird
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?Can be
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inWorldwide
HabitatMountains, Forest, Grassland, Coast
ColoursBrown, White
SizeLarge
WeightFrom 450 g (Great Nicobar serpent eagle) upward
Legs2
Covered inFeathers
Lives inpairs
Lives for20–30 years
Can fly
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Mostly Eurasia and Africa. Only 14 species live elsewhere: 2 in North America, 9 in Central and South America, 3 in Australia.
- What it eats
- Live prey such as mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, carried to a perch and torn apart with the beak.
Did you know
Its eyesight is about twice as sharp as a human's.
A bald eagle once flew carrying a 6.8 kg mule deer fawn, the heaviest verified load carried by any flying bird.
Often confused with
- Hawk
Eagles and hawks belong to the same family. “Eagle” just marks the bigger species, large enough to hunt prey about 50 cm long or more.
Compare side by side - Vulture
Many vultures have a bare, unfeathered head that stays clean while they feed on carcasses. Eagles mostly hunt live prey.
Compare side by side
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