What Do Eagles Eat?
Answer at a Glance: Eagles eat various things, depending on the species to which they belong. There are 60 different species of eagles. Some are vegetarians, such as the African vulturine fish-eagle, which primarily eats palm fruits, while other eagles are the size of pigeons and eat insects. There are a few larger eagles that take down monkeys and small deer.
Dig Deeper
- Different Eagle Species Eat Different Things
- What Serpent Eagles or Snake Eagles Eat
- What Do Harpy Eagles Eat?
- What Do Booted Eagles Eat?
- What Do Sea Eagles or Fish Eagles Eat?
- References
Different Eagle Species Eat Different Things
Scientists generally group eagles into four subsets: serpent eagles, harpy eagles, booted eagles, and sea eagles. [1] Of the 60 species of eagles, 46 are from Eurasia and Africa. Central and South America is home to 9 species, while Australia is home to 3. North America has only two species of eagles: the bald eagle and the golden eagle. [2]
What Serpent Eagles or Snake Eagles Eat
Serpent eagles, or snake eagles, can be found mainly in Africa, though one species is migratory and will travel as far as Europe and India. [3]
As the name suggests, the favorite food of this medium-sized raptor is snakes. This fearless bird takes on some of the world’s deadliest snakes, including the cobra and black mambas. It has scales around its legs and talons to help protect against poisonous snake bites but is usually fast enough to tear off the snake’s head in midair before it has a chance to strike. If it can’t find a snake to make a meal of, it will also eat frogs, lizards, small rodents, and fish. [4]
What Do Harpy Eagles Eat?
Harpy eagles, one of the largest eagle species in the world, make their homes in the deep forests of Mexico to Northern Argentina. These giant predators eat mammals as large as monkeys and sloths. A harpy eagle will eat porcupines, opossums, snakes, and even smaller deer. [5]
What Do Booted Eagles Eat?
Booted eagles, so-called because their feathers grow down the legs to cover the toes, include the golden eagle, one of the only two species of eagle found in North America. Depending on their location, these birds feast on a wide assortment of prey. For example, in Greece, these birds eat turtles. [6]
Its main diet consists of mainly small mammals like squirrels and jackrabbits. If the opportunity arises, it may take larger animals, such as foxes and young deer. It will also eat birds, snakes, lizards, large insects, and carrion (dead animal carcasses). [7]
What Do Sea Eagles or Fish Eagles Eat?
Sea eagles, or fish eagles, can be found throughout the world except in South America. The bald eagle is a sea eagle. [8]
As the name implies, fish eagles prefer to eat fish, but they are opportunistic feeders and eat a variety of prey and carrion. Bald eagles will eat fish they capture alive, dead, or dying. They also eat sea birds, squirrels, muskrats, raccoons, other small mammals, reptiles, snakes, crustaceans, and even garbage, along with deer or livestock carcasses when they are available. In addition, bald eagles will eat whatever they can steal from other eagles, herons, ospreys, and some mammals. [9]
References
- [1][6] PBS – Nature – “Eagles.”
- [2] Birdlife International – “List of Eagle Species.”
- [3][4] Audubon – “Snake-eagles Are A Serpent’s Words Nightmare.”
- [5] San Diego Zoo – “Harpy Eagle.”
- [7] The University of Mexico – “Food of the Booted Eagle in Central Spain.”
- [8][9] Britannica – “Sea Eagle.”
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