Among the top ten living birds of prey, the golden eagle does not even rank among the top five.

Birds of prey are one of the six major groups of birds (the other five are songbirds, waders, migratory birds, land birds, and climbing birds), including all existing birds of the order Accipiliformes, Falconiformes, and Owls. The birds under Birds of Prey are all ferocious carnivores, and they are all kings of the sky. Among the many birds of prey, the more well-known one is the golden eagle. However, some people say that among the top ten existing raptors, the golden eagle cannot even make it into the top five. Is this true? Which raptors make the top ten? Who can win the crown? Let's take a look.

Since we are ranking the top ten raptors, we naturally have to consider many aspects, not just size, because although the Andean condor, the largest existing bird, is large, its thick and blunt claws and the habit of eating carrion have made it useless. Because of their competitiveness, these ten raptors must be large in size, ferocious in temperament, and capable of hunting. Based on this premise, let’s sort them again.

Tenth place: Fishing eagle

Fishing eagles are large raptors that belong to the genus Fishing Eagles of the order Accipitridae. They are mainly distributed in the east, south and Southeast Asia. In terms of size, the average body length of fishing eagles is about 65 cm, with a wingspan of about 80 cm. They usually live near forests near water, and their main food is fish in the water (more than 98% of them). .

Unlike other birds that dive into the water for fishing, fishing eagles rarely get water on their bodies when fishing, because their keen vision will firmly lock on the fish underwater, and then fly parallel to the water surface, using their claws to catch the fish. Fish caught from the water.

Although the fishing eagle is not small in size and has a sharp beak and claws, it mainly feeds on fish, which puts it at the bottom of the raptor rankings.

Ninth place: Snake eagle

The snake eagle is a raptor belonging to the family Accipitridae of the order Accipitridae. Its scientific name is the Great Crested Vulture. It is a common bird in Asia. It has an average body length of about 65 centimeters, a wingspan of about 1 meter and a weight of about 1.4 kilograms. weight.

Judging from its name, it is not difficult to tell that this is a raptor that has trouble getting along with snakes. In fact, this is also true. The main diet of snake eagles is snakes and lizards.

Many friends have seen the picture of an eagle with a snake wrapped around its neck. The eagle is actually a snake eagle. However, don’t worry, the snake eagle’s sharp claws will quickly pull the snake off, and then use its own force to The powerful jaw muscles "dead" the snake in one bite. (In the picture below, the snake is wrapped around the neck of the snake eagle. The picture has been processed to prevent it from causing discomfort to some friends. Please praise me~)

Eighth place: Bald Eagle

The bald eagle is a large raptor in North America and the national bird of the United States. Judging from the body shape, it has an average body length of 85 centimeters, a wingspan of about 2 meters, and a weight of about 5 kilograms. In fact, according to this size, it should be ranked relatively high among raptors, but because they live by the sea and mainly feed on fish in the sea, their ranking has been lowered.

Seventh place: Snake Vulture

The snake vulture is a large raptor on the African continent. It is a bird in the family Accipitridae and is also the tallest existing raptor. An adult snake vulture has an average body length of 1.3 meters and a height of about 1.4 meters. Weight around 3.5kg.

Although the snake vulture is a bird of prey, it is different from other raptors in that they rarely swoop to hunt from the air. Instead, they like to look for prey leisurely on the ground. Their main prey are venomous snakes, among which the famous "God of Death" The natural enemy of the black mamba is the snake vulture.

The snake vulture has slender legs and sharp claws. On the one hand, it can kick and scratch the opponent, and its beak is also very sharp. Although the snake vulture mainly feeds on snakes, mammals such as hares and meerkats are also its more common prey.

Sixth place: White-tailed sea eagle

White-tailed sea eagles are also a type of sea eagle. The difference is that they are raptors on the Eurasian continent. Different from the white-headed sea eagles, the white-tailed sea eagles are larger. They have an average body length of 90 cm and about 2.3 meters. wingspan and a weight of about 5.5 kilograms. Although the main prey of white-tailed sea eagles is also fish, white-tailed sea eagles are not picky about food. They will also hunt other birds and small mammals on land. They even dare to compete with golden eagles for prey when food is scarce (success rate Lower, but white-tailed sea eagles who need energy during lactation have no way).

Fifth place: Eagle Owl

The eagle owl is the largest extant member of the order Owlidae, and they are widely distributed in Europe, Asia and the African continent. Although their body length is only about 65 centimeters, their average weight is less than 3 kilograms, and their wingspan is just over one meter, they are famous for their ferocity.

First of all, the eagle owl is the only owl that has been observed to dare to attack and kill peregrine falcons at night. Secondly, although the main prey of the eagle owl is rats, its diet includes hares, weasels, even porcupines and foxes. in it.

Therefore, although the Eagle Owl is not as big as the Bald Eagle, its hunting ability is already more ferocious than it.

Fourth place: Golden Eagle

Golden eagles are the most famous large raptors in the northern hemisphere. They have a body length of about 1 meter and a wingspan of more than 2 meters. The most important thing is that the raptors above either mainly feed on mice or fish. They rarely attack medium and large prey, or they mainly feed on snakes, but the golden eagle is different.

In the diet of golden eagles, the main prey are medium and large birds and mammals, such as goats, wild deer, roe deer, and even carnivorous foxes, which often fall into the prey of golden eagles.

Therefore, the ranking of the golden eagle is definitely not that it cannot even enter the top five. On the contrary, if it were larger, it could even be ranked first among raptors.

Third place: Steller sea eagle

The Steller's sea eagle is the largest sea eagle in existence and the heaviest eagle known in the world. In terms of size, the Steller's Sea Eagle has a body length of 1.1 meters and a wingspan of 2.4 meters, and its maximum weight reaches 12.7 kilograms.

Although the Steller's Sea Eagle mainly feeds on fish, it will also hunt some medium and large birds and medium-sized mammals. The most important thing is that the Steller's Sea Eagle has a record of hunting seals, and whether seals are It is obviously not comparable to the fox in terms of size or combat power.

Therefore, the Steller's sea eagle has successfully surpassed the golden eagle with its size and feeding habits, becoming the top ten raptors.

Second place: Ape-eating eagle

The ape-eating eagle is a ferocious bird of prey. It is a bird belonging to the genus Ape-eating eagle, subfamily Accipitridae, family Accipitridae. Since the ape-eating eagle is currently only found in the Philippines, it is also called the Philippine eagle. At the same time, it It is also the country of the Philippinesbird.

As a large raptor, the ape-eating eagle has an average body length of about 90 centimeters, a wingspan of about 2.3 meters, and a weight of 6.5 kilograms. Usually the ape-eating eagle mainly inhabits tropical rainforests, so primates in the rainforest have become its main prey, and this is also the origin of the name of the ape-eating eagle.

The reason why it is said to be a ferocious bird of prey is because when hunting, they have the habit of pecking out the eyes of their prey first, and then tearing the prey into pieces piece by piece.

First place: horned eagle

The horned eagle and the ape-eating eagle have some similarities. For example, they are close in size and have very similar habits. In terms of body shape, the average body length of the horned eagle is between 100-110 centimeters, which is longer than that of the ape-eating eagle. However, its wingspan is about 2 meters, which is slightly smaller than that of the ape-eating eagle. Its average weight is about 7 kilograms. It is also lighter than the ape-eating eagle.

Judging from its habits, the horned eagle also likes to live in tropical rainforests, and primates also account for a relatively large proportion of its diet. However, its advantage over the ape-eating eagle is that in its diet, there are also There are medium-sized mammals such as sloths, porcupines, anteaters, and capybaras.

Therefore, with its broader feeding habits, larger prey and longer body length, the harpy eagle successfully ranked first among the top ten birds of prey.

Summarize

The size of raptors cannot be used as a reference alone, because some large raptors are actually scavengers. They are obviously not as aggressive as raptors that hunt for a living. Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, among the top ten raptors, the golden eagle can eliminate In fourth place, it's not that none of them can make it into the top five as rumored. Moreover, with the ferocious personality of the golden eagle, if it has the size of the ape-eating eagle, it can definitely get the first place.

animal tags： raptor