a ‘bird of prey’ = a bird that kills other animals to eat them

Special Features:

The ‘eagle’ is the national bird of Albania, Armenia, Nigeria, Serbia, Moldova;

the ‘steppe eagle’ is the national bird of Egypt;

the ‘golden eagle’ — Mexico, Austria, Germany, Kazakhstan;

the ‘bald eagle’ — the USA;

the ‘Javan hawk eagle’ – Indonesia;

the ‘Philippine eagle’ – Philippine;

The ‘eastern imperial eagle’ – Iraq;

the ‘white-tailed eagle’ – Romania;

the ‘Harpy eagle’ – Panama;

the ‘African fish-eagle’ – Zambia & Zimbabwe.

Eagles are said to be the “Masters of the Sky”.  Every part of their body is designed to meet the requirements of a formidable hunter: sharp hooked beak (bill); strong legs and sharp powerful talons; very good eye-sight; and large powerful wings – some kinds have a wingspan of 7 feet wide!

However, not all eagles are large: the ‘crested serpent eagle’ is just as small as a pigeon!

The largest, of course, are the ‘Harpy eagle’ and the ‘Philippine eagle’.

The ‘African vulturine fish-eagle’ is a vegetarian, feeds more on oil palm fruit than meat!

The eagles are so graceful in flight and so majestic to look at that they are held in great respect all through the history of mankind.

They are the national animals of several countries and found on the coat-of-arms of several ancient and modern armies; the emblems of different nations and organisations.

The feathers of large eagles have been used for decorating the head-dresses of the chiefs and the war-lords in many tribal societies.

These ‘masters of the sky’ are found not only in the ancient religious and social scriptures but also in many fables, story books of the recent times!!