Golden eagle

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In the tales of many peoples, the place of the king of birds is invariably assigned to an eagle. Only in our country there are several types of them: steppe, hawk, dwarf, burial ground, great and lesser spotted eagles, and finally the golden eagle. It is he who rightfully belongs to the role of the head of the bird kingdom.

Of all the eagles, he is the largest, most powerful and beautiful. Against the background of a mature, usually dark brown color in the plumage of the golden eagle stands out the golden color of the neck, formed by long and pointed feathers on the back of the head and the back of the neck.

Young birds have white spots on the inner surface of the wings and a white base of the tail, clearly visible in flight. With age, the white color in the plumage becomes less and less, and by the age of five or six years, an adult outfit is mainly formed - the underside of the wing and tail become dark, with beautiful moire patterns.

The golden eagle has a long, span of more than 2 meters, relatively narrow wings, ending with primary flight feathers spread apart like fingers. It is characterized by a powerful active flight, the high speed of which allows it to overtake prey. The rather long tail makes it possible to perfectly maneuver in flight, which is also very important for a successful hunt. A large, crocheted beak with sharp cutting edges is capable of ripping open the strongest skin of ungulates, tearing prey to pieces, but contrary to popular belief, it is not at all the main weapon of the golden eagle. The eagle grabs prey, holds it and kills it with extraordinary strength with paws with large sharp, truly steel claws. It is simply impossible for an inexperienced person to imagine the full force of the golden grip. A fox caught “in place” by an experienced bird resists for only a few seconds.

The area of distribution of the golden eagle in Russia is very large - from the Pskov region and the Kola Peninsula in the west to Chukotka and Kamchatka in the east, from the European and Siberian tundras in the north to the mountains of the Caucasus and southern Siberia. However, this vast area is very unevenly inhabited: in the center of the European part of the country there are only single nesting sites of the golden eagle. The situation is better in the north and especially in the northeast of the European part, and in the mountains of the Caucasus, in Altai, in the Sayan Mountains, the golden eagle is common in places. Its abundance is high in the taiga mountains of Eastern Yakutia.

With such a wide distribution, covering different natural zones, the diversity of habitats is natural. Golden eagles nest on tall trees near the outskirts of large raised bogs, in rocky areas of mountains at an altitude of sometimes more than 3 thousand meters, on loess cliffs in deserts, in mountain taiga forests, etc. The nests of these birds are structures with a diameter of 1.5— 2 meters and up to 1 meter high, folded from twigs and lined with plant rags, scraps of skins, wool, branches with fresh needles or green leaves. Each pair of golden eagles usually has several nests on its nesting territory, which the birds occupy one by one. Before the new season, the chosen dwelling is being repaired and built on, and since the couple has been living together for many years, the nests over time acquire such impressive dimensions.

The female starts laying eggs quite early, at the very beginning of spring. At this time, snowfalls often occur, and cold weather returns, so you have to hatch tightly, without leaving. The male takes care of her feeding, to whom she will be able to help only after 2.5-3 months, when the chicks are fully grown. In a full clutch, the golden eagle has 2-3 eggs, which are incubated in the nest for about 1.5 months, after which the chicks spend another 2-2.5 months at the expense of their parents.The food of eagles during this period is diverse - from rodents (marmots, ground squirrels, hares, gerbils) and medium and large birds (chukots, black grouses, wood grouses) to calves of various hoofed animals. In desert areas, the diet of the golden eagle is supplemented by reptiles, among which turtles are sometimes found. Although they have strong enough armor to protect themselves from the claws and beak of the king of birds, the latter demonstrates remarkable ingenuity here: with a caught turtle, he soars several tens of meters and unclenches his claws, and he does this necessarily over stones, from the impact of which the shell will inevitably split ...

It would seem that the golden eagle has everything - keen eyes, iron paws, mighty wings, the ability to live in any climate, perfectly adapt to the diet of any animals - from lizards and small birds to saigas and gazelles, endure cold and long hunger strikes. And yet such a bird appeared on the pages of the Red Book of Russia (Aquila chrysaetos). Among the main reasons for this, scientists call the violation of habitats and the depletion of the food supply. A lot of golden eagles die on power lines, fall into traps and poison themselves with poisons on baits laid out for wolves. Cases of shooting birds and ruining their nests have not been eliminated.