In the classification of birds, eagles usually refer to birds of prey of the genus Eagle, but also refer to small eagle birds of prey. However, the classification of eagles in modern Chinese is sometimes inaccurate, and birds of the order Eagles, Falconiformes, and Owls are all generally referred to as "eagles", when in fact the order Hawks can be divided into kites, eagles, eagles, harriers, (kuáng), eagles, and ospreys.
Hawks are considered to be one of the most powerful birds, with their agility, keen eyesight, and powerful attacks, making them at the top of the bird's food chain. So, which of the various tough eagle species is the most ferocious? Here are the 10 most aggressive eagle species in the world, including the crested eagle, the fierce eagle, the American horned eagle, the golden eagle, the ape-eating eagle, the Steller's sea eagle, the white-tailed sea eagle, and more. Let's get to know these amazing birds of prey.
1. Crested eagle eagle
(The largest bird of prey in sub-Saharan Africa.) In Southern Africa, it mainly inhabits riparian woodlands and various forests. ）
The African crested eagle, also known as the African crested eagle, African crowned eagle, African crowned eagle, or crowned eagle, is one of the world's most famous eagles and ranks high in the global eagle rankings. It gets its name from a pinch of black feathers on the top of its head, resembling a crown. This breed has a body length of about 80 to 181 cm, a wingspan of between 180 and 200 cm, and a weight of about 3,175 to 4,700 grams. With a strong beak and a powerful body size, the crested eagle eagle is very powerful among eagles, and has the ability to grab prey equivalent to 5 times its own body weight and fly in the air.
Although the talons of this eagle are four fingers like other eagles, the distinctive feature is that the crested eagle eagle has an unusually thick thumb and extremely sharp nails. When preying on primates such as baboons, they can use their claws to penetrate the skull of their prey, exhibiting extremely ferocious properties. In addition, the African crested eagle eagle is one of the very few birds of prey that can attack human children, so it is attracting attention.
2. Fierce carving
Eagle eagles are found in parts of southern Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe and the Republic of South Africa. Because it has abundant resources, it can attract military eagles to come here to forage and live.
The fierce eagle, also known as the war eagle or military eagle, is recognized as one of the most ferocious eagles in the world. The total length of this eagle ranges from about 78 to 96 centimeters, and the wingspan ranges from 188 to 260 centimeters. Known for its unique hunting techniques, the eagle is known as the "cheetah of the air" because it is one of the few eagle species known to hunt primarily by soaring from high altitudes and looking down on its prey. In the savannahs of Africa, the eagle shows amazing hunting skills and can hunt more than 170 different animals, whether it is an antelope or baboon, or a snake, a wolf or a honey badger.
In the Eagle Eagle's sphere of influence, there are hardly any natural predators that can match it, except for humans. This eagle exhibits unique hunting skills and top-notch predatory abilities, making it one of nature's most revered birds of prey.
3. American horned eagle
The American horned eagle, also known as the Harpy Eagle, is one of the largest eagles in the world, measuring about 1 meter in length, weighing up to 9 kilograms, and having a wingspan of up to 2 meters. Its signature features include an erect crest of feathers and strong talons up to 13 cm long.
The horned eagle has two towering black crests on its head, which resemble horns in shape, hence its name. These eagles have exceptionally strong claws, with hind toe claws up to 6 centimeters long, enough to easily grasp prey that exceeds three-quarters of their own body weight. In addition, they are excellent flying specialists, even with their huge size, flying almost silently.
As a predator at the top of the food chain, the American horned eagle has demonstrated its ability to hunt. In Western culture, the horned eagle has become a symbol of strength and power due to its strength and majesty.
4. Golden eagle
The type locality of this species is found in Sweden, northeast China, and other subspecies are found in western China and the mountains of North Korea. In Mongolia and Kazakhstan, locals raise golden eagles to help with hunting.
When it comes to the most ferocious eagle species, many people think of the famous golden eagle. As the star of the raptor world, the golden eagle typically has a body length of between 76 and 102 centimeters and a wingspan of up to 2.3 meters. The golden eagle is known for its agile flight ability, but also has excellent hunting skills and strong endurance. The prey of this eagle is diverse, including geese, ducks, pheasants, roe deer, deer, goats, foxes, marmots, hares, and many more.
In nature, the golden eagle is regarded as one of the outstanding representatives of the bird of prey world, and its huge wingspan coupled with its powerful predation ability allows it to hunt even wolves and other animals, showing its preeminent position in the bird of prey world.
5. Ape-eating eagle
It is the national bird of the Philippines, with fewer than 500 pairs left, mainly concentrated in the rainforests of Mindanao. It is one of the largest and rarest eagles in the world, belonging to large-scale eagles, and is praised as the world's "most noble flyer" and has the reputation of "the tiger in the eagle".
When it comes to the strongest eagle breed with the most fears, the ape-eating eagle is undoubtedly impressive. This bird of prey has a body length of about 91 centimeters, a wingspan of between 200 and 250 centimeters, a weight of 6,500 grams, and a lifespan of up to 30 years. The ape-eating eagle has a strong body and a fierce appearance, so it is named for its ferocious behavior when pecking monkeys. In the realm of ape-eating eagles, almost all animals are their prey, especially various monkeys such as macaques, as well as arboreal animals such as snakes and civets. Even close to villages, they hunt domestic animals such as dogs and pigs.
Ape-eating eagles are adept at hovering at low altitudes and quickly swooping down once they spot their prey. They usually peck their prey in the eye and then tear it into pieces to fill their hunger. Arguably, the ape-eating eagle is one of the most aggressive birds in the world.
6. Steller's sea eagle
The species is typed in Siberia and breeds in Kamchatka, the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, Heilongjiang, northern Sakhalin and the Chantal Islands of Russia. Most Steller's Eagles migrate south to Japan's Kuril Islands and Hokkaido for wintering when winter comes.
Steller's sea eagle, one of the top 10 most common species in terms of eagle combat effectiveness, has a body length of about 90-101 cm, a wingspan range of 203-250 cm, and a weight of 5-10 kg. It is one of the largest birds of prey found in the coastal regions of Northeast Asia, and the Steller's beak is also the largest and most powerful of all eagles, reaching up to 7 centimeters in length, and is known for its extremely strong attack power, which is known for its fast, accurate and vicious attack methods. Every attack is bound to have a fatal result.
Although Steller's sea eagle mainly preys on fish as its main food, it also sometimes hunts large and medium-sized birds such as mallards, geese and swans, as well as small and medium-sized mammals such as hares, rats and foxes.
7. White-tailed sea eagle (the king of air killing)
At the end of 2020, the Qinghuahai National Wetland Park Management Center and the Shidian County Forestry and Grassland Department recorded the white-tailed sea eagle during the waterbird monitoring of the Yudong Reservoir, which was the first time that the white-tailed sea eagle was monitored in Baoshan City.
Named for its bright white tail, the white-tailed sea eagle can reach a body length of up to 90 centimeters in adult individuals, up to 250 centimeters in height when spreading its wings, and can weigh up to 9 kilograms. When it comes to predator, the white-tailed eagle is one of the top prey in the family of prey, preying on fish, seabirds, rabbits and even fawns, while also digging through the fields in search of worms and eating scavengers, demonstrating its adaptability.
The most powerful thing about the white-tailed sea eagle is that it can perfectly suppress other birds, as long as the bird is in the same ecosystem as the white-tailed sea eagle, it can become the prey of this fierce killer.
8. Bald eagle (fierce and super gripping)
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States, divided into two subspecies, northern and southern, and is found throughout Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.
The bald eagle is one of the ten most ferocious eagles, it is a large bird of prey with its beautiful appearance and fierce temperament. The body length is about 85-110 cm, the wingspan ranges from 180-220 cm, and the weight of males is 3500-4000 grams, and the weight of females is 4500-6000 grams. These bald eagles have ten times more grip and dozens of times more vision than humans. They mainly prey on large fish such as salmon and trout, waterfowl such as mallards and gulls, and small mammals near the water. This eagle has sharp talons designed to kill animals and a hooked beak that tears through the flesh of its prey with ease.
Not only that, but the bald eagle is not only huge in size, but also has particularly ferocious characteristics, so it has been given the title of "King of Birds".
9. Jade ribbon sea eagle (super lethality)
The jade-banded sea eagle is distributed in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Tibet, Sichuan, Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangsu and other places in the mainland, and is mostly seen in swamps, grasslands, deserts or plateaus. The type of origin of this species is in the Ural River in Russia.
The jade-banded sea eagle is one of the most deterrent eagles, with an adult body of up to 80 centimeters, wings up to 250 centimeters, and a weight of about 7 catties, with extremely strong lethality. They hunt for a wide range of food, and in their territory, the jade-banded sea eagle undoubtedly occupies the top of the food chain. In addition to hunting fish in the water and waterfowl on the shore, they also hunt many rodents in the grassland area, such as rabbits, rodents, etc.
Even when necessary, it is capable of killing large rodents such as marmots. Therefore, for a long time, herders had to be wary of the jade-banded sea eagles in the air, because they have the strength to prey on animals such as lambs.
10. Eagle owl (strong predation ability)
The eagle owl is a very widespread species, which can be found throughout Eurasia, from Scandinavia in the north, Sakhalin in the east, to the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, Iran, northern India, and in the west to all of Europe, and in China. The type origin of this species is in Switzerland.
The eagle owl is one of the larger members of the owl family. Compared to owls, which are not too harmful, the eagle owl shows the true nature of a true bird of prey, and its hunting ability is enough to easily catch prey two to three times heavier than its own body. Prey mainly on small to medium-sized mammals, the eagle owl hunts a wide range of rodents and reptiles such as snakes, turtles, lizards and young alligators.
Because of their lack of sense of smell, they are one of the few natural predators of the skunk, the smelliest animal on the planet. In addition, eagle owls have been recorded to sometimes even engage in cannibalism, which shows their cruel and competitive side in the world of birds of prey.