Imperial eagle

[Jon]

has anyone ever seen one of these in the flesh? It was on itv3 today looks a nice bird.

[Tim Laycock]

I handled one once, It was an imprint and not pleasant to have on the fist at all!
It was slashing at my face with its beak It weighed 11 lbs and I had to hold it at arms length!
I was glad when I had had enough. :D

[Jon]

Bloody hell mate. Do they look like a goldie but with white on the wings. what do you think of them in the flesh mate.

[Finnish]

Identification:A large and impressive species,averaging only a little smaller than the Golden Eagle. The long,wings have more nearly parellel front and rear edges than the Golden, and the tail is more distinctly two coloured. Adults of the Spainish race are easily reconised by their white shoulders, but these are much smaller in eastern birds, and entirely lacking in immatures of both races.

[Lanner Nut]

nice birds :D

http://img188.echo.cx/img188/8338/spanishimperialeaglecopyrighta.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[Tim Laycock]

The bird was 5 years old and was still in imature plumage so it was very pale. It was a pretty thing- On a perch!!!

[EagleMan]

imperial eagles are impressive birds too, we have 10-15 breedig pairs in Romania, these birds are very rare in europe and therefore are listed as endangered
i'v seen one in reality, are very close related to golden eagles, about the same size ,but the similarities stops here:
imperial eagles are by noform suited for falconry , they are much more stubborn than the goldies and their feet ere much smaller, for comparison bonelli's eagle posess 3 time longer talons than the imperial eagle.....
for more info enter imperialeagle.hu
regards

[MickeyDredd]

I saw this hybrid Imperial/Goldie flown in Opocno a couple of weeks ago. She is a female flying at approx 4.5kilo.

She has the juvenile imperial colour and tail, but the goldies feet!!!!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a121/MickeyDredd/0d5042c6.jpg

[Roberto]

"Spainish race" of the Imperial eagle - This subspecie is Portuguese too,
Same example is the Brookei peregrine, some call him "Spainish Peregine". Both are birds of prey of the - Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain)

regards

[EagleMan]

hi roberto
actually even today ornithologists can't agree about the status of spanish imperial eagle, some of them called a subspecies of imperial eagle Aquila heliaca, others instead calls it an distinctive species and give it the scientifical name of Aquila adalberti.
all sources claim that spanish imperial eagle is to be fond only in Spain, i'm happy to find that breed in Portugal too !
by the way roberto can you tell us more about the portugese imperia eagles ?
thanks !

[Roberto]

It wasn’t breeding in Portugal since 1978, but now it is returning to national territory. When in 2002 he saw for several times imperial-eagles in Portuguese territory, the biologist Carlos Pacheco understood that they could not be erratic individuals. The specie did not breed in Portugal since 1978 and the observations of erratic individuals were very scarce. "I believed they weren’t dispersal individuals, the observations were made in March and April, period of nest building". In the following year, at the 10 of June, Carlos Pacheco came to confirm its suspicions and to inscribe is name in a happy page of nature conservation in Portugal: in a wild pine, at a few Kilometres from the border with Spain, in the area of the Natural Park “Tejo International”, a couple of Imperial-eagles was breeding a young, the first one detected in our territory in the last 25 years. A new couple was detected in 2004 whit tree chicks successfully reared. From the 2003 couple one more eagle was raised.

In Portugal the breeding population of the Brookei peregrine is estimated between 80 to 90 couples, but I sincerely and hopefully believe this numbers are always lower then the reality.

regards

[DothanFalconry]

where did you get that pic? is that you in there? where are they flying those eagles? thanks

[MickeyDredd]

where did you get that pic? is that you in there? where are they flying those eagles? thanks

No, unfortunately it is not me!!

The picture was taken at the Opocno, Czech Republic fieldmeet in October this year.

[EagleMan]

thanks roberto, also do you hve any ideea about the situation of bonelli's eagle in portugal?
regards

[Roberto]

1999 census - Bonelli´s eagle 77 - 80 couples.
1997 census - Golden eagle 61 - 66 couples.

in http://www.nationalgeographic.pt/revista/1003/feature1/default.asp
Some photos taken in Portugal by the photographer Luis Quinta.

[EagleMan]

thanks so much roberto, tose pics are great ! bonelli's are among my favourite eagles, sadly the whole text is in portuguese, and i don't speak it:cry:
can you tell me more about bonelli's ? for example is she better at hares than an finnish gos ?
regards: :-)

[Roberto]

I have no experience hunting with them, but I really don´t think they are better at hares then Goshawks or Harris hawks.

[EagleMan]

why that, this medium sized eagleis quick and powerfull, i cannot understand why an goshawk is more suited for hare hunting?
regards

[EagleMan]

this is eastern imperial eagle an nest...

[Kentish Falconry]

Hi All I was lucky enough to own three Imperial Eagles in the early 90's there were 4 in the UK at that time 1 at the Hawk Concervacey a female, the 3 I had were 2 females and 1 male. I bought a pair from Phil Dugmore and the other female from Ken Smith of "World of Wings" Hornsea Potteries. The female from Ken Smith had been attacked by a dog and had a bent leg that had been pinned and damage to the Beak and face. These birds were all Imported into the UK from Pakistan and were the larger form with out the big white shoulder patches that the Spanish race have.
I have just found the Home office Exemption Certs that the birds were Imported under in 1972 from a dealer in Karachi
I have some photo's somewhere and I will try to dig them out.
All these birds were sent to Spain for the breeding project and I lost track of them after that, the usual story put a bird out on breeding loan and thats the last you ever hear!!!
Ashley Smith (Hawk Concervancey) contacted me after I had agreed to loan the birds to the project wanting to borrow one of the Females for breeding believing that he had a male but as it turned out he also had a female but smaller than my birds, possibley the Spannish species.
I beleive that the Spannish Imperials are smaller than the Golden Eagle but having Goldies and Imperials in chambers next to each other I would not say that the Imperials were smaller, if anything I would say they were slightly bigger or at least giving the appearance of being so, again I will search out my records.
Hope this is of some interest to you
Terry

[EagleMan]

the imperial eagle has different, wing shape and angle,
also has proportionally bigger head and beak, but goldie weights more, and has much bigger talons.

[MickeyDredd]

the imperial eagle has different, wing shape and angle,
also has proportionally bigger head and beak, .

And smaller tail.

[EagleMan]

right, this is another reason why imperial is not a bright hunter....short tail= less agility.

[EagleMan]

an :goodman: imperial eagle pair.

[HawkerX]

I saw one quite regulary it belonged to Dave Fox,I think he had it for about twenty years or so.He could proberly advise on handling/hunting such a bird.What stunning looking birds they are.yes slightly smaller than goldies with not so much armory but still very impressive.

[Rocky]

I seen and held Dave Fox's Imperial eagle 'Ajax' she was a beauty,may she rest in peace .........

[JuliaK]

here in Germany are some Falconry Centres who flying the birds,i think 4 or 5.
I have seen them flying,they are great,really calm.
The Falconer told me that they are great for displays,good to handle.
They are a little bit smaller than Golden Eagles,but they have much more smaller feet than a goldie.
I'll try to find the photos of them and will show them here.

[JuliaK]

Found one photo,it's not the best but you can see the small feet.

[JuliaK]

another picture form a friend of mine,taken in schillingsfürst(falconry centre).