The average lifespan of eagles
About 70-80% of eagles die at the age of five, but an adult eagle lives in the wild for about 20-25 years, while eagles in captivity usually live more than 40 years, and some reach 50 years, due to veterinary care and a controlled environment Controlled and nutrient-dense diet.
Home of the eaEagleses
Eagles are widespread, often preferring tropical and subtropical regions, but they do not appear in Australia and most of the oceanic islands, and most of their species are found in groups in open areas on cliffs, in tall trees, or even on the ground in large nests, and sometimes in large colonies. [2] As for the New World Eagles; The turkey eagle is the most widespread, and breeds from Canada to the southern tip of South America, while the condor eagle is found in California and the Andes, and the black eagle, which is the most abundant type of eagle ever, lives in temperate regions in the tropics and subtropics.[2] And for the king's eagles; It is found in the tropical forests from southern Mexico to Argentina, either singly or in pairs. The presence of the cnidarian eagle extends across southern Europe, Asia Minor, the central plains, and the highest mountains of Asia. As for the Egyptian eagle, it spreads in northern and eastern Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. And India. [2] The eagle Griffon is spread in the Balkans, southern Russia, northwest Africa, and the Spanish Highlands, while the palm eagle lives in western and central Africa, and the red-headed eagle spreads from Pakistan to Malaysia, in addition to the small-faced eagle that lives in arid Africa
Eagles flight
Eagles spend most of the day hours flying in the sky without feeling tired and without having to flap their wings; Thanks to its large wings with dense feathers and their short tail,[3] the vultures fly at high altitudes to be able to monitor the places where food is available, and at night the vultures spend the night in their roosts, which may be just a large perennial tree.
The social communication of vultures
Most vultures live a social life. They fly and search for food in groups, and there are types of vultures, including the turkey vulture, that are social only when they descend at night to perch on trees.[3] - 12 vultures, while bearded vultures live in groups of up to 25 birds, while the spotted eagle group members number up to 1000 pairs.
Eagles' mating and breeding
Vultures are famous for being among the birds in which the male lives throughout his life with one female, and when mating, the male eagle tries to flirt with the female and dazzle her by displaying his skill in soaring, so he flies spreading his wings to touch the tip of her wing.[3] Vultures often lay one or two eggs at a time, and incubate them for a while. It ranges between 38-68 days until they hatch and varies according to the type, and the parents cooperate to incubate and feed the chicks. The vultures of the Old World build a nest of sticks for their young on rocks or on trees and line it with grass. As for the vultures of the New World, they are content with laying eggs inside the cavity of a rock or tree, or on The ground under bushes and piles of rocks. [4] Eagle chicks live with their parents for a period ranging between two to three months, and during that, they continue to depend on the parents even after the flight feathers appear, and at the age of 3-6 months, the chicks are similar in size to their parents, except that they can be distinguished From the color of the feathers, which is different from the feathers of adult birds, and chicks of eagles reach maturity between 1-8 years, depending on the species to which they belong.
Eagles food
Vultures feed mainly on carrion, but they may sometimes feed on wounded or newborn animals, and supplement their diet with fruits, eggs, and garbage, and as soon as one of the vultures sees a carcass on the ground, large numbers of vultures gather on the carrion.[3] They communicate with each other visually to convey information related to finding a carcass, which explains the speed with which they gather around the carcass, although most of them are quiet birds and do not make many sounds. Vultures suffer from a constant lack of food, and in some cases, two weeks may pass without finding a carcass to eat, so they greedily eat when food is available and store food in their crops until they swell to eat later, and they can vomit this food to feed their young.
How do eagles obtain their food?
Eagles' means to obtain their food differ according to their type. They do not lack creativity or tools. For example, the bearded eagle picks up animal bones and flies them high, then drops them on the rocks and they break, so the eagle descends to feed on the nourishing bone marrow with its tongue. [4] As for the Egyptian eagle, it drops stones on ostrich eggs to break them and eat their contents, while the palm nut eagle is a unique type of eagle, as it prefers to feed on palm nuts, except that it sometimes eats dead fish.
The Death of Eagles
Vultures die in more ways than one; Including the following
natural death
The vultures grow old and their bodies weaken and they die, apart from dying of old age; Vultures can die from the following diseases:
West virus
The Nile is infected by bald eagles when they eat infected prey, and the virus is also transmitted by mosquitoes, and the infection can be transmitted to other bald eagles.
WRES virus
It also affects bald eagles and is said to be similar to the hepatitis C virus in humans, with symptoms such as seizures, tremors, brain damage, and death.
BeHV virus
It is infected by vultures that do not show symptoms, so it has not been established whether the virus is the actual cause of the disease.
other injuries
Infection also comes when vultures' wounds are infected; in the absence of treatment in the wild, infection usually kills them.
artificial death
When vultures do not die from old age or disease, the causes of vultures’ death are unnatural, and some of these reasons follow:
wind turbines
One of the most important causes of the unnatural death of eagles is wind turbines, as they get caught during their flight in the blades of the turbines and are killed.
Predators
Eagle eggs and chicks can fall prey to other predators such as raccoons, crows, and squirrels, but such incidents are rare because parent eagles are usually around to defend their young.
the hunt
Despite the existence of laws that prohibit hunting eagles, some of them are still hunted by humans, so hunters shoot birds or poison them with bait from animals.
poisoning
Vultures die from lead poisoning when they feed on dead animals with bullets, and they show symptoms such as pain, weakness, seizures, neurological weakness, difficulty in landing, and because it is difficult to treat vultures in the wild; you will likely die.