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Lesser Spotted Eagle

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Clanga pomarina

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The Lesser Spotted Eagle is a medium-sized eagle, about 60 cm long, of forest-farmland mosaics in central and eastern Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus, and it migrates to winter in southern and eastern Africa. Adults are brown with a paler head and wing coverts and a small bill and head for an eagle; juveniles have white spots on the wing coverts. It is closely related to the Greater Spotted Eagle, with which it occasionally hybridises.

Did you know?

  • Its call is a surprisingly dog-like yelp.
  • It usually lays two eggs, but typically only one chick survives because of sibling rivalry.

About the species

Identification

A medium-sized eagle with fairly narrow wings and often a pale nape patch. The underwing typically looks two-toned: paler coverts and darker flight feathers; the tail is finely barred. Juveniles often show rows of pale spots on the wing coverts. Told from Greater Spotted Eagle usually by its smaller, lighter build, paler nape and stronger wing contrast.

Family

Accipitridae

Size

Very large (swan)

Colours

brown, yellow, orange, black

About the habitat

Mixed and deciduous forests with nearby meadows, marshes, pastures and fields, in a varied semi-open landscape.

Diet

Mainly small mammals such as voles, as well as frogs, reptiles, small birds, large insects and occasionally carrion.

Behaviour

Hunts from perches or by walking on meadows, and by low quartering. It soars on thermals and migrates long distances to Africa in large flocks via the Bosphorus and the Middle East. Territories are used year after year. It nests high in a tree and lays 1–3 eggs; the first-hatched chick usually kills its sibling, so normally only one young fledges. Its call is a dog-like yelp.

Sources

Photo: Wolbrum avner, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:עיט חורש.jpg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_spotted_eagle

See also