Bird Guide

Eastern Imperial Eagle vs Spanish Imperial Eagle

Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca)

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Aquila heliaca

Huge3.1 kgWoodland

The eastern imperial eagle is a large eagle, but usually falls near the average size of the large-bodied genus Aquila. Adult total length can range from 68 to 90 cm (27 to 35 in) with a typical wingspan of 1.76 to 2.2 m (5 ft 9 in to 7 ft 3 in). The average wingspan of a small sample showed males to average 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) while a small sample of females averaged 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in). Although otherwise outwardly similar, the species displays reverse sexual dimorphism as do most birds of prey, in which males are usually smaller than the females. Voice: The eastern imperial eagle is quite vocal on their breeding ground but tends to be silent or nearly so elsewhere. The main call of the species is a deep, harsh bark owk owk, gok gok or kraw-kraw. The call tends to be repeated rapidly up to 8-10 times. Their call is perceptibly deeper and harsher than that of the golden eagle, somewhat incongruously also being more resonant and commanding.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Koshy Koshy from Faridabad, Haryana, India · CC BY 2.0
Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti)

Spanish Imperial Eagle

Aquila adalberti

Huge3.0 kgWoodland

This is a large raptor and quite large eagle, broadly similar in size to its cousin, the eastern imperial eagle, which is found in a considerably different distributional range. Compared to sympatric largish booted eagles, it is somewhat smaller than the golden eagle and somewhat larger than Bonelli's eagle. Spanish imperial eagles can weigh from 2.5 to 4.8 kg (5.5 to 10.6 lb). The average weight of males in a sample of 10 was 3.19 kg (7.0 lb) while that of 17 females was found to be 3.43 kg (7.6 lb). Meanwhile, another sample of 10 unsexed adults weighed an average of 3.93 kg (8.7 lb).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Cristina Villaverde · CC BY 4.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Eastern Imperial Eagle and Spanish Imperial Eagle.