Guinness World Records 2018

Largest genus of eagles

The largest taxonomic genus of eagles is

Aquila, housing the so-called “true” eagles,

and currently containing 15 species.

These include the golden eagle

(A. chrysaetos) of Eurasia and North

America, the huge Australian wedge-tailed

eagle (A. audax), Africa’s predominantly

black-plumaged Verreaux’s eagle (A. verreauxii)

and the magnificent Spanish imperial eagle

(A. adalberti).

First Aquila (“true”) eagle

The first “true” eagles of the genus Aquila

that are currently known to science all date

back to the mid-to-late Miocene epoch,

approximately 12 million years ago. There are

three species: A. bullockensis, A. delphinensis

and A. pennatoides. The first of these lived in

Australia; the latter two are known from fossils

found in deposits in Grive-Saint-Alban, France.

Largest eagle species ever

First discovered in 1871 by the German geologist

Julius Haast in the remains of a swamp, Haast’s

eagle (Harpagornis moorei) was a giant bird

of prey native to New Zealand’s South Island.

Adult female Haast’s eagles are estimated to

have weighed 10–15 kg (22–33 lb), while their

adult male counterparts tipped the scales at

9–12 kg (20–26 lb). In terms of body size, even

the largest eagle species living today are around

40% smaller than Haast’s eagle.

The raptor’s size made it a fearsome predator

capable of killing moas – flightless birds that

were even taller and heavier than ostriches.

However, the arrival of the first Maori settlers

on South Island led to over-hunting of the moas,

condemning both them and the Haast’s eagle

to extinction in around 1400.

Eagles

ANIMALS

Rarest eagle

Only around 120 pairs of the Madagascan fish

eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides, see above) are

believed to exist in the forests of north-western

Madagascar. The Indian Ocean island was once

home to a larger raptor, the Malagasy crowned

eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery), but it became

extinct around 1500. An Aquila species of eagle

in the region also died out. Although neither

raptor has survived, their impact can be detected

in Madagascar’s lemurs, which still display

characteristics of raptor-avoidance behaviour.

Rarest hawk-eagle

Fewer than 255 Flores hawk-eagles (Nisaetus

floris) are thought to remain in existence.

The species is entirely confined to the

small Indonesian islands of Flores, Lombok,

Sumbawa and Alor in the Lesser Sundas group,

as well as the two islets of Satonda and Rinca.

Largest recorded eagle prey

A young male Venezuelan red howler monkey

(Alouatta seniculus) weighing 7 kg (15 lb 7 oz)

was killed and carried off by a South American

harpy eagle (see below and right) in Peru’s

Manú National Park in 1990.

Relative to their size, eagles have eyes that are 20 times as big as a human’s.

A truly “eagle-eyed” human would have eyes twice the size of bowling balls!

LONGEST EAGLE TALONS

The back talons of the South American harpy eagle (Harpia

harpyja) grow to 13 cm (5.12 in) long, making them even

longer than the claws of many grizzly bears. Its legs can

reach the thickness of a small child’s wrist. The harpy

eagle hunts the rainforest canopy for its prey, using its

talons to exert a pressure of more than 50 kg (110 lb) on

its victims, enough to crush their bones.

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CONVOCATION

Collective noun for

a group of eagles

The official symbol of the

Holy Roman Empire was

a two-headed eagle

Female eagles

are much larger

than male eagles

Bald eagles are not

bald – the term is used

to describe the eagle’s

white head

LONGEST

EAGLE BEAK

A fossil of the now-

extinct Haast’s eagle

(Harpagornis moorei)

boasts a lower

mandible measuring

11.4 cm (4.4 in). This

is almost twice the

length of the longest

beaks of surviving

eagle species such

as the Philippine

eagle (Pithecophaga

jefferyi) and Steller’s

sea eagle (Haliaeetus

pelagicus), which

have been recorded

at more than

7 cm (2.7 in). Pound for pound, an eagle’s wing is stronger than that

of an aeroplane

Total number of living

species of eagle currently

recognized by science

100%

RAREST EAGLES IN THE WILD

NAME STATUS NUMBERS

1 Madagascan fish eagle

Haliaeetus vociferoides

CE c. 240

2 Flores hawk-eagle

Nisaetus floris

CE <255

3 Philippine eagle

Pithecophaga jefferyi

CE c. 600

4 Spanish imperial eagle

Aquila adalberti

V c. 648

5 Philippine hawk-eagle

Nisaetus philippensis

V 600-900

6 Pallas’s fish eagle

Haliaeetus leucoryphus

V 2,500-

10,000

7 Sanford’s sea eagle

Haliaeetus sanfordi

V c. 5,000

8 Greater spotted eagle

Clanga clanga

V <8,000

=9Indian spotted eagle

Clanga hastata

V 3,500-

15,000

=9Beaudouin’s snake eagle

Circaetus beaudouini

V 3,500-

15,000

=9New Guinea eagle

Harpyopsis novaeguineae

V 3,500-

15,000

=9Mountain serpent eagle

Spilornis kinabaluensis

V 3,500-

15,000

=9Wallace’s hawk-eagle

Nisaetus nanus

V 3,500-

15,000

=9Eastern imperial eagle

Aquila heliaca

V 3,500-

15,000

CE: Critically endangered; V: Vulnerable (IUCN)

The harpy eagle

is a patient and

deadly hunter that

can perch silently for

up to 23^ hr in trees while

stalking its^ prey. Below

is one of this eagle’s

talons, shown at

actual size.