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GrasslandPlatform nestHuge · 2.7 kg
ID tip
The steppe eagle is a large, bulky and robust-looking eagle. It is mainly dark brown in color with a longish but very thick neck and a relatively small head that nonetheless features a strong bill and long gape-line. It appears long-winged and has a longish and rather rounded tail and markedly well-feathered (almost with disheveled looking feathers) legs. Steppe eagles tend to perch somewhat upright and usually do so in the open, often utilizing isolated trees, posts, rocks or other suitable low lookouts such as mounds or straw-piles.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Steppe Eagle
One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 8 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is February, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Steppe Eagle
The map shades 65 countries with regular records, and 13 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Portugal, Norway, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Italy, France, Poland, Morocco, Bahrain, Germany, Nigeria, Netherlands.
About the Steppe Eagle
The steppe eagle is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "Booted eagles". This species was once considered to be closely related to the sedentary tawny eagle and the two forms have previously been treated as conspecific. They were split based on pronounced differences in morphology and anatomy; two molecular studies, each based on a very small number of genes, indicate that the species are distinct but disagree over how closely related they are.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Tawny EagleAquila rapaxThe tawny eagle is considered to appear "inelegant, scruffy-looking" but has a fairly characteristic aquiline silhouette.
Bonelli's EagleAquila fasciataVoice: Bonelli's eagle is largely silent outside of breeding season and is a somewhat infrequent vocalizer even in the context of breeding.
Eastern Imperial EagleAquila heliacaThe eastern imperial eagle is a large eagle, but usually falls near the average size of the large-bodied genus Aquila.
Side by side: Steppe Eagle vs Wedge-tailed Eagle · Bonelli's Eagle vs Steppe Eagle · Steppe Eagle vs Tawny Eagle · Eastern Imperial Eagle vs Steppe Eagle
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