Aquila de camp | Facts & Information

Origin

There are small isolated populations in the Austrian and Italian Alps, as well as in Cyprus.

The Iberian imperial eagle from Spain, Portugal and Morocco has long been considered a subspecies of the field eagle, but has been recognized in recent years as an independent species – Aquila adalberti – due to important genetic differences.

The two species differ in appearance and behavior. Aquila heliaca also has the name Oriental imperial eagle.

Field Eagle feed

In Central Asia, the most common prey is a gofer rodent (Geomyidae), blind, devoid of hair that digs galleries.

They also hunt other rodents, foxes and various birds.

Features Field Eagle

The field Eagle is similar in appearance and proportions to the Golden Eagle of Europe, Asia and North America. It has a length of 80 cm from the beak to the tip of the tail and a wingspan of two meters.

The male weighs just over 2.5 kg, and females, which are larger, can reach 4.5 kg. There are no significant differences between female and male except size.

The plumage is dark brown except for the shoulders and tail, on the shoulders (small white spots), and the tail is black with a fine white band. At the temples it is light brown or gilt.

Like the Golden Eagle, the field Eagle has its feet covered in flakes all over the surface, except for its claws. The skin is scaly, and the claws are strong.

The field Eagle lives in lowland areas with few trees, never hunts in wooded areas.

The field Eagle is a vulnerable species throughout the range, being on the verge of extinction in Europe. There remains a small population in the Alps as a relic of the times when it extended throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where it was the emblem of the Imperial House of Habsburg.

The reasons for the decline are the direct persecution of livestock breeders (who consider the field Eagle as a danger to herds) and the destruction of the natural habitat by turning into cultivable land.

The situation has worsened since the field eagle was declared a protected species.

Field eagle breeding

The pairs are monogamous and each year return to the old nest. It is located at the top of a tree, very visible. It uses as a base the thick branches of the tree, covering the holes with grass and flakes from its own body.

The female typically lays two eggs (rarely three or four). Incubation lasts 43 days, after which White Chicks appear, of which only the strongest will get to leave the nest, the others dying before.

The Chick flies for the first time after two months and in winter migrates alone, looking for mates the following summer. In freedom it lives about 21 years, and in captivity it can reach up to 44.

The hindwings are light brown with the breast furrowed by dark stripes and the lower back by a typical pale cream – white.

The inner primary remiges are light in color, contrasting with the other dark remiges. It does not have (like the immature steppe eagle) the wide white stripe on the underside of the wing.