Amazing night sky

This picture was taken a few days ago using a normal phone camera. The reason you see so many stars is because it was taken from a rural place where electricity is't common, hence making the stars seem so bright and noticeable .

     This picture is completely unedited!!

Eagles face the unavoidable

As soon as an eagle is born, it is taken care of by its parents. They provide it with food and shelter. Use their bodies as shields to protect the young from strong hails and storms. Life seems all too easy for them. All they really care about is the next feeding time and thats it. No worries and life is all the same.
When the youngs reach 10 weeks, the mother eagle teaches the little ones to fly by making their nest so uncomfortable that they are forced to leave it and commit themselves to the unknown wold of the outside. She further makes them to starve, putting pressure on them to hunt on their own.
Intelligent creatures!!

Aren't we humans like them too? We take care of our youngs, teaching them as much as need be and then just when they are ripe, we expose them to the world.
I surely can relate to it, and i am sure you can too. Some of us leave our houses, go to different unheard places, study or perhaps settle there. At first the thought might bring a feeling of sadness in us, the thought of leaving your loved ones behind. But its all part of life.

And to continue where i left, and it might even cheer you up a bit if someone close to you is leaving too. Once the eagle takes it first flight, it soars thorough the heavens enjoying the freedom. Flies as much as its weak wings can bear.Then it hunts and slowly and gradually develops its own nest. But every once in a while it comes back to meet its parents and sometimes even bringing food to them :)

Male vs Female eagle ?

In addition to my previous post (http://whatiseagle.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-to-differentiate-between-male-and.html) , i would like to add something. I found an amazing youtube video which would make the job of differentiating a male from a female very easy, so here it is...

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And yes, i do not own this video, just sharing it for educational purposes.

Enjoy :)

How to differentiate between a male and a female eagle ?

A friend of mine, Fabeha once asked how its possible to tell the gender of eagles just by looking at them. So then i realised maybe others might not know as well. So here i am writing to help you distinguish between the male and the females. However the focus is going to be on Bald eagles but these conditions apply to almost all types.

For a normal ( a bird watcher) observer its a pretty simple job. The only thing one need to look at is the relative size. The female ones are larger than males by roughy a third of the size. Technically female bald eagles have a size of 37 inches while males are 30 inches long.

Then one can look at the talons for further verification. The number is the same on both males and females but the length of these talons differ. Females have longer talons as compared to males.

And if you are a good listener then you can differentiate by the sounds of the two. Females have a lower pitch voice as compared to males.

Although these might look simple to read but distinguishing isn't a very simple job. It requires you to dedicate a lot of time looking at these raptors and to get used to their size and sounds.

Hopefully now you know the difference....

Seeing an eagle is true happiness

How true :)

Eagle tests before it trusts

The Eagle tests before it trusts. When a female eagle meets a male
and they want to mate, she flies down to earth with the male pursing
her and she picks a twig. She flies back into the air with the male
pursuing her. Once she has reached a height high enough for her, she
lets the twig fall to the ground and watches it as it falls. The male
chases after the twig. The faster it falls, the faster he chases until
he reaches it and has to catch it before it falls to the ground, then
bring it back to the female eagle.

Bald eagle dives to retreat the twig

An eagle carrying a twig
The female eagle grabs the twig and flies to a much higher
altitude pursued by the male, until she perceives it high enough, and
then drops the twig for the male to chase. This goes on for hours,
with the height increasing until the female eagle is assured that the
male eagle has mastered the art of picking the twig which shows
commitment, then and only then, will she allow him to mate with her!
Amazing, isn't it ?

Hunting with eagles

Hunting with golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) is a traditional art of the Eurasian steppes, particularly defined as "Horse Riding Falconry" or "The Eagle Falconry" in Central Asia. It is a type of falconry.

Kazakh eagle hunter in Mongolia.

The relationship of the bird and its master is constant and all-consuming. In the training of a young eagle, the berkutchy (trainer) must sacrifice his sleep for a long period. For weeks, the growing bird is rendered sightless under its hood until its dependence on its master becomes complete. Such intimacy must turn into a lifelong trust with the eagle - twenty years or more. It is said "that as the man trains the eagle, so does the eagle train his man." There is a proverb in Kazakhstan: "There are three things a real man should have: a fast horse, a hound, and a golden eagle."


First In 936-45 AD the Khitans, nomadic people from Manchuria used this practice of hunting with eagles. Then the tradition was passed to the Kyrgyz during the reign of Genghis khan.


Even today,Kazakhs living in Mongolia continue to hunt with eagles. There are an estimated 250 eagle hunters alive today practicing this tradition. Every year they gather for the Golden eagle festival in Mongolia.

If you are lucky, perhaps you can meet them someday but remember, hunting with these raptors is their family tradition so they wont disclose the secrets to you.

Amazing eagle pictures

A collection of some amazing pictures of these raptors.

The following pictures are the property of their respective owners.

What if humans had eagle vision ?

Ever wondered how it would feel if you had the vision of an eagle? If you could see what was going on through the eyes of a raptor, would you be excited?

If you swapped your eyes for an eagle's, you could see a bug crawling on the ground from the roof of a 10-story building. You could make out the expressions on football players' faces from the worst seats in the arena. Objects directly in your line of sight would appear magnified, and everything would be brilliantly colored, rendered in an inconceivable array of shades.

And yes, the more we know about eagle vision the more we desire to attain it. Thanks to the technological developments, some aspects to this vision can be achieved while for the rest we can do nothing apart from dreaming in its colors.

Eagle's Eyes

Eagles and other birds of prey can see four to five times farther than the average human can, meaning they have 20/5 or 20/4 vision under ideal viewing conditions. Scientists have to cook up special experiments to judge eagles' eyesight — your optometrist's alphabet eye charts are of no use, after all — and one common setup involves training the birds to fly down a long tunnel toward two TV screens. One screen displays a striped pattern, and the birds get a treat when they land on it. Scientists test their acuity by varying the width of the stripes and determining from what distance the eagles begin to veer in the correct direction.




On top of sharp focus and a central magnifier, eagles, like all birds, also have superior color vision. They see colors as more vivid than we do, can discriminate between more shades, and can also see ultraviolet light — an ability that evolved to help them detect the UV-reflecting urine trails of small prey. But there's no way to know what these extra colors, including ultraviolet, look like. "Suppose you wanted to describe the color of a tomato to someone who was born blind. You couldn't do it. We can't even guess what they're subjective sensation of ultraviolet light is."

Life with 20/5 vision

Eagle vision wouldn't change how we perform most daily activities — such as reading computer screens or the newspaper, or finding milk in a crowded refrigerator — but how we perceive the world and use our eyes would certainly be different. It's perhaps easiest to consider our new powers in the context of how eagles use them: for hunting.



On top of the ability to see farther and perceive more colors, we would also have nearly double the field of view. With our eyes angled 30 degrees away from the midline of our faces like an eagle's, we would see almost all the way behind our heads with a 340-degree visual field (compared to normal humans' 180 degree field); this would confer a clear advantage in hunting and self-defense.



Enhanced perception and hunting prowess would likely come with a few drawbacks. "I would say that birds probably have a greater proportion of their brain volume devoted to visual processing than other groups of animals. Now the question of what it comes at the expense of: most birds appear not to have a well-developed sense of smell or taste."

It really would be wonderful to have an eagle's vision if you can afford a few drawbacks. After all your potential would increase and you can wonders!

Eagle's significance

In ancient Egypt and Babel the eagle was:

The symbol of the noon sun, which signified the Great Spirit.

To the Egyptians;

The eagle was the messenger to the gods and the sun, a symbol of eternal life.

To the Romans;

The eagle was the carrier of Jupiter's thunderbolts and a sign of power, which was adopted as a symbol of the Roman emperors, and was carried before the Empire's legions.

To the Greeks;

The eagle was the messenger to the Greek God Zeus, and Zeus took the form of an eagle when he carried his young lover Ganymede to Mt. Olympus.

A unique picture showing cloud formation in the shape of an eagle.
Were the Romans and Greeks right after all ?

Bald eagles transform their lives at 40! - Fact or Fiction

Myth or Fact: Bald eagles go through a process of transformation at 40. They take a life changing decision in which the bald eagle breaks off it's beak and rips off it's feathers. And then waits for them to grow back. This painful procedure takes a good 5 months but it extends an eagle's life from 30years to an amazing 70years! 

Fact or Fiction?

For almost half a decade this has been a topic of debates and discussion. People have argued for and against it without having concrete proofs. So here are a few proofs that we have collected and hopefully they will help you decide for yourself.

A Myth / Rumor? 

 Majority people and mostly the not-so-good observers consider this whole thing to be a simple rumor. According to them, it all began when a few motivational speakers came up with an idea to use this Bald eagle's popularity and supremacy and transform it into something more. They created power-point presentations and slides mainly for the objective on inspiring people in their lectures since people tend to get motivated more from nature. However not long after, these slides became viral over the Internet. People started liking and sharing these slides and it became a topic of widespread discussion. After all the idea of shedding old feathers and growing new ones looks amazing!

Below is one of the slides that became viral showing the transformation of eagles.

People further started to dismiss the idea of this transformation being real when University of Minnesota's Raptor Center stated


"We have received quite a few e-mails regarding the "Eagle Rebirth" story recently. The story is quite far from what an eagle's life truly consists of, but we would be happy to share with you the natural history of the Bald Eagle. Eagles would not typically "lose" their beak or talons, unless it was the result of a traumatic injury. The talons and beak are two of the three best defining features of what makes these birds "raptors". Without the sharp talons for catching prey and the strong, sharp beak for tearing food, the raptor would certainly die of starvation. An eagle hatches with both a beak and talons and these will continue to grow throughout the bird's life. The beak and talons are composed of hard
keratin and are somewhat similar to human fingernails. The talons of the eagle are not flexible as the story claims. New layers of keratin growth build onto the old layers ensuring a strong structure for the raptor. The raptor keeps the beak in good condition naturally in the wild by eating tough prey and rubbing the beak clean on stones or other hard surfaces (feaking) after eating.



Eagles and other raptors generally do not pluck out their feathers. All birds, including raptors, do go through a process of losing feathers and this is called a molt. A bird's feathers do suffer regular wear and tear so, ultimately, the quality of the feather will decrease and it will need to be replaced. The feathers are not lost all at the same time. If this were true, the bird would be unprotected from natural elements and more importantly it would not be able to fly. Eagles and all other raptors need to fly in order to hunt and survive so the loss of flight would most likely mean starvation for the bird. Each feather comes from a feather follicle much like hair does on a mammal. When the feather is first emerging and developing it has a blood supply coming from the body going up into the shaft of the feather. If this feather is broken or pulled out it is not only very painful for the bird, but could result in blood loss and damage to the feather follicle. Severe damage to the feather follicle could result in the permanent loss of the follicle. If a feather is lost before a molt it could take up to a year to be replaced. Raptors and all other birds molt in a symmetrical pattern. If a primary feather is molted on the left wing, the same feather is molted simultaneously on the right wing. This can ensure balance in flight for the bird while it hunts during this molting period.


The average life span of an eagle is approximately 30 years. The eagle, like many other living organisms, does not have the luxury of making the decision to extend their life cycle far beyond what is normal for its species. In captivity, an eagle may live beyond what the average life expectancy is, because it receives both regular and nutritious meals, has access to veterinary care and can be sheltered from the harsh elements by housing provided by the facility caring for the bird. Even then, the life span is in no way extended as far as this myth is suggesting.



There is speculation as to the origin of this myth, but we can assure you that none of it is true."


Further detailed analysis of this slides reveals a few weak points and possibly mistakes.According to the story, to be "reborn" at forty, the eagle must retreat to its nest on a mountain top, first knock off and then regrow its beak, then pluck out and regrow its talons and, finally, pluck out and regrow its feathers, a process that takes 150 days. Thus renewed, the eagle can take its "flight of rebirth" and go on to live another thirty year.


Firstly Bald eagles typically live between twenty and thirty years in the wild. The lifespan of other species of eagles may vary, although none are known to reach seventy years in the wild.

Secondly scientists have studied eagles of various species for generations and much has been published about them, no credible sources back up the "eagle rebirth" story in any way. There are, however, plenty of reliable sources that dismiss the story as a foolish hoax.

In some slides, the eagle shown in the photographs is a Bald Eagle, but in others a different species, the Golden Eagle, is shown. The story also sprouts the scientifically meaningless claim that "the eagle has the longest life-span of its species". The author perhaps meant to say that eagles live longer than all other kinds of birds, but this is also incorrect. Parrots and other species of birds are known to live longer than eagles.


And the most oblivious flaw is as clear as it gets.How can an eagle survive 5 months without hunting for food and water?



Is that all ?

No. Obviously the world can't believe something which is purely a lie. There are a few points which make us ponder over the possibility of all of this being true. Although few but they are pretty impactful and hence can't be simply ignored.


First the authors who claim to have spread this news say that an eagle requires very minimal amount of food during those 5 months of transformation since all it does is to sit on the very exact spot all day long. Hence even food as small as few mice can make eagle survive such a long amount of time.

Possible? Yes, given the fact that the eagle's actions are restricted its all possible scientifically.


Secondly the last 40 years have been good for the Bald Eagle. Back in 1967 it was one of the first North American birds to be put on the 'Endangered Species' list. Its classification has been relaxed to threatened, and to its present status of protected. Along with this its life expectancy has grown and in some cases eagles have grown to be over 70years although rare. Can these eagles have taken the flight of rebirth?

Thirdly people all over the world have seen eagles banging their beaks on hard rocks, which is exactly how the process of transformation starts. Scientist argue that the eagles bang their beaks to sharpen them but still a faint possibility of a start of transformation.


Bottom line:

Be it a hoax or a fact, but we as humans have a lot of things to learn from this flight. We need to be in a process of constant change and adaptation in order to succeed in life.

Laugh your heads off

I couldn't resist not to post this one..

Eagles afraid of humans? (Myth Busted)

Many of us, referring to humans in this case are usually implanted with the idea that birds are dangerous, especially the raptors. Are they?

Well it depends on how you look at it. If one starts harming them, then of course they would retreat and in severe cases even strike back. But generally they are peace loving creatures which tend to enjoy beauty from great heights.And they tend to mind their own business.

But wait a minute, Why on earth was I of a point of view that eagles are afraid of humans? 

Well it wasn't your fault. It is the world wide web which is to to be blamed for this. It all started back in the days when photographers uploading pictures of these raptors added humorous descriptions. They ranged from the very normal to the very extreme including one which went as far as stating "eagles have finally decided to leave their homes due to the sighting of humans". It is so weird how people believed these rumors. And yes not to forget social networking websites on which a rumor is exaggerated way many times especially with the so popular like and share feature.

Don't be fooled. He isn't afraid.

This image is among many which were used to spread rumors that eagles are afraid of humans. And its all so hilarious to see someone actually believing this shit.

So yes eagles are peace loving but make sure you maintain a safe distance from them, after all they are birds of prey.

"Love eagles and they love you back. Hate them and they remain neutral."
-Acter

I bet you don't know yet

Do you think you know enough about eagles? Think twice.

Below are some facts that might astonish you.

Have fun reading.

• There are more than 60 different species of eagle.
• The Harpy Eagle and the Philippine Eagle have wings that spread 5 ft 9 in to 7 ft 4 in across and use their massive, sharp talons, to kill and carry off prey as large as deer and monkeys.
• In Greece, Golden Eagles eat turtles, dropping them from great heights onto rocks to break open their armoured shells.
• Although most eagles are carnivorous the African Vulturine Fish-Eagle is primarily a vegetarian, feeding on rich oil palm fruits.
• Eagles are admired the world over as living symbols of power, freedom, and transcendence.
• The spot on which an eagle landed dictated to the ancient Aztecs the place where they were to build a city.
• In some religions, high-soaring eagles are believed to touch the face of God.

So how many of these did u already know?

Did you know?

There is a popular myth which goes that eagles are the only birds which take shelter by flying over the clouds when it rains. But it has yet to be proved or dismissed.

And besides it will take a lot of effort to observe them at such great heights , especially in adverse weather conditions.

So what are your views on this?
Is this true or a complete made up to signify the beauty of these raptors?

One step closer to our love of eagles

Hooray!!

A blog made just for the fans of eagles to start sharing their experiences and enjoy the fun filled adventures of people just like you, passionate for these sky soaring birds.

So lets roll