Aquila heliaca

The white-shouldered eagle is also known as the Asian Imperial Eagle. It is a large bird of prey with no subspecies.

The white-shouldered eagle is a migratory bird in China. It is a summer migratory bird in Xinjiang and a winter migratory bird and a traveling bird in other regions. The time of migration to and from China varies from region to region. In Beijing, it is seen in early September and November, and in Liaoning, it is seen in October, November and May.

White-shouldered eagles often move alone. They either soar in the air or rest for a long time on isolated trees, rocks and the ground in open areas.

They mainly feed on small and medium-sized mammals and birds such as rodents, hares, pheasants, partridges, quails, wild ducks, and pheasants, as well as reptiles and animal carcasses. They mainly forage during the day, mostly in open places such as river valleys, swamps, grasslands and clearings in the woods. In addition to standing on rocks, trees or the ground waiting for prey to appear and pounce, they often fly low and high in the sky to hunt.

Rapid barking owk, owk, owk.

The breeding season of the white-shouldered eagle is from April to June. Usually nests are built on tall pine trees, oak trees and poplar trees in the forest. In open areas with sparse trees, they also nest on isolated trees, and occasionally on cliff rocks. The nest is mostly placed at the top of the tree with many branches, generally 10-20 meters above the ground, and sometimes it can be as low as 2 meters and as high as 25 meters or more depending on the environment and the condition of the tree. The nest is disc-shaped, mainly composed of dead branches, and padded with twigs, animal hair, dead grass stems and grass leaves. The size of the nest is usually 1-1.5 meters in diameter and 0.5-1.0 meters high. If the reproduction is successful, the nest will continue to be used the next year. Usually a nest can be used for many years, but it needs to be repaired and supplemented with new nesting materials every year. Therefore, as the nest is used for more years, the nest becomes very large. Each nest lays 2-3 eggs, which are white and 70.1-78.5 mm × 56.9-62 mm in size. After the first egg is laid, it begins to incubate, which is done by the male and female parents in turn, and the incubation period is 43-45 days. The chicks are late-maturing. The newly hatched chicks are covered with white down feathers and are raised by the male and female parents. After 55-60 days of nesting, the chicks can leave the nest.

After scientists at Purdue University in the United States conducted DNA analysis on bird feathers, they found that the white-shouldered eagle in Central Asia may be the most loyal bird in the world. After analyzing the DNA of feathers left in the bird's nest, the researchers discovered a separate tribe of white-shouldered eagles in a natural habitat in Kazakhstan. The analysis showed that no adult eagles were separated from their mates, a high degree of fidelity that is rare in birds, as most species have multiple mates and offspring. Observational studies of white-tailed eagles have shown that this largest bird of prey is monogamous, meaning that males and females stay together throughout the entire nursing period and share the responsibility of raising their offspring.

The white-tailed eagle is very sensitive to human disturbance, which means that its breeding range may be severely restricted by human development and infrastructure development in Central Europe (2016). Infrastructure and human settlements are the main reasons for the decline of more than 30% of potential habitat in the Hungarian Plain (2009). Other threats include loss and modification of survival habitat, shortage of small and medium-sized prey species, especially ground squirrels, nest destruction and illegal trade, hunting, poisoning, power line electrocution and collisions with vehicles. In the 2009 breeding season in the Altai region, an average of about 450 white-tailed eagles were killed by power lines, accounting for 25% of the total number in the region. Habitat changes associated with agricultural expansion threaten historical and potential breeding sites in former range countries. In Central Europe, poisoning by predation has become the first cause of mortality since 2006, with more than 80 specimens in Hungary alone in 10 years. Hunting, poisoning, prey consumption and other mortality factors may also pose a threat to migratory routes and wintering areas. In the Altai region of Russia, competition with white-tailed eagles for their nests has been reported (2009).

The Eastern Eagle Working Group, established in 1990, proposed conservation actions in 2006 to conduct surveys in Asia (especially Russia and Kazakhstan) to identify white-tailed eagle breeding and wintering sites and migratory routes to implement beneficial forestry policies. Raise public awareness and participate in conservation activities.

Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2017 ver 3.1-Vulnerable (VU).

Listed in Appendix II of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Listed as a rare species in the China Red Book of Endangered Animals·Birds.

Listed in the first level of China's National Key Protected Wildlife List (February 5, 2021).

Protect wild animals and stop eating game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!

Origin: Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.
Wandering: Belarus, Cameroon, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Morocco, Poland, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden and Togo.
In China, it is distributed in Tianshan, Xinjiang; Lanzhou, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Wenxian, Ganna

The white-shouldered eagle has dark brown from the forehead to the top of the head, the back of the head, pillow, back neck and head sides are brown, and the back neck is decorated with thin dark brown feather trunk lines. The upper body to the back, waist and tail coverts are dark brown with a slight purple sheen. The long shoulder feathers are pure white, forming significant white shoulder spots; the tail feathers are grayish brown with irregular dark brown horizontal spots and markings. And has broad black terminal spots. The wing coverts are dark brown, the primary flight feathers are also dark brown, with white spots on the base of the inner feathers, the secondary flight feathers are dark brown, and the inner feathers are mixed with light yellowish white spots. The lower body feathers are dark brown from the chin, throat, chest, abdomen, flanks and leg coverts. The undertail coverts are light yellowish brown with slightly dark brown vertical stripes. The underwing coverts and axi