ANIMALSSMALLEST EAGLE
The South Nicobar serpent
eagle (Spilornis klossi)
weighs 450 g (15.8 oz)
and measures just 40 cm
(15.7 in) long, making it
only slightly larger than
a female sparrowhawk. It
is found in forests on the
island of Great Nicobar,
north of the Indonesian
island of Sumatra. The
serpent eagle was not
formally described until
1902, whereupon it was
named after the English
zoologist Cecil B Kloss.STRONGEST BIRD OF PREY
The female harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is
capable of killing and carrying away animals
of a similar body weight, which can reach 9 kg
(20 lb, see left). As it swoops down upon its prey
at speeds of 32 km/h (20 mph), the harpy eagle
generates energy approximate to 2,258 joules
(1,665 ft-lb) – equivalent to almost three times
the muzzle energy of a bullet shot from a .357
Magnum handgun. It is an apex predator that sits
at the top of the food chain, and counts sloths
and howler monkeys among its prey.GREATEST WING-SPAN FOR AN EAGLE
Formerly known as the monkey-eating eagle, the Philippine
eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) has produced confirmed wing-
spans of up to 2.2 m (7 ft 2 in) – greater than the median
wing-span of any other species. Given its body size and
weight, this species is actually relatively short-winged. In
the dense forests of the Philippines, longer wings would only
impede the swift bursts of speed the eagle requires to catch
the monkeys, birds and reptiles upon which it feeds.
LARGEST EAGLE
Named after the German
botanist Georg Steller,
the Steller’s sea eagle
(Haliaeetus pelagicus)
weighs 5–9 kg (11–20 lb).
Its average body mass
of 6.7 kg (15 lb) is greater
than that of any other
eagle. Found mainly in
Russian coastal regions
and parts of Korea and
Japan, Steller’s sea eagle
survives on fish such
as salmon, trout and
Pacific cod – although it
has also been known to
dine upon crabs, ducks,
squid and even seals! The
heavyweight bird also
boasts an impressive
wing-span, with individual
specimens matching that
of the Philippine eagle (see
above). However, a median
wing-span of 212.5 cm
(7 ft) is only the third-
highest among eagles.
LARGEST BIRD’S NEST
Examined on 1 Jan 1963, a nest built by a pair of bald eagles
(Haliaeetus leucocephalus) near St Petersburg in Florida,
USA, was found to measure 9 ft 6 in (2.9 m) wide and 20 ft
(6 m) deep. It was estimated that the vast nest weighed
more than 4,400 lb (1,995 kg).
However, this is dwarfed by the incubation mounds
of the Australian malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata). These
insulated egg chambers, the largest incubation mounds,
can involve material weighing as much as 300 tonnes
(661,387 lb) – as heavy as the average 747 jumbo jet!