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.
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.
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in Norway, Spain, Finland, Belgium, France, Poland, Morocco, Bahrain, Germany, Nigeria, Netherlands.
When to see it
Peak activity in February · a variable species across most of its range
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.
Learn the Steppe Eagle for real
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