Post by ophio on Sept 19, 2023 5:09:17 GMT
I feel like I hold the "golden" eagles (including the golden eagle, wedge tailed, verreaux's, bonelli, imperial, etc) in their appropriate place, I do elevate them above many eagles, but there's a handful of "super eagles" I put above them I think for good reason. The haast's eagle would have obviously been an exception, it was from this golden eagle group but 6 kgs heavier than a harpy. I do believe it is the most epic eagle ever, but of the extant eagles I think the harpy, phillipine, martial eagle and african crowned are kind of proportionately OP'd in comparison. Also the extinct "Gaff's eagle" from Australia, which was a relative of the harpy and Philippine eagle but bigger than both. I think this group are specialised for hunting larger unusual prey, even though yes, golden eagles have some crazy feats on some big prey, the talon power of these other eagles is I think indicative of an evolution towards focusing on bigger prey as their "norm".
Average weight of prey taken has been reported at as low as 1.2 kg (2.6 lb).[62] A food study largely based in data from the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, as well as from Maasai Mara, did reinforce a mean prey mass of just over 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) for the species.[63] However, the mean prey body mass is considerably higher in other known dietary studies. In by far the largest dietary study thus far conducted for the martial eagle species (in the Cape Province, South Africa) the estimated mean prey body mass was approximately 2.26 kg (5.0 lb).[61] In Tsavo East National Park of Kenya, the mean estimated body mass of prey was quite similar at approximately 2.31 kg (5.1 lb).[32] Average prey weights in a study of the Maasai Mara was seemingly even higher, at a median between the average prey sizes for each sex of martial eagle at approximately 2.9 kg (6.4 lb).[29] Despite perhaps a majority of prey for this species weighing less than 5 kg (11 lb), martial eagles regular prey size range is claimed at up to 12 to 15 kg (26 to 33 lb)
The nesting cycle.[10] This is a moderate dietary breadth by the standards of the genus Aquila,[10] and not remarkable when compared to some other raptors.[34] Overall prey weight has ranged from 10 g (0.35 oz) to at least 114 kg (251 lb),[34][35] although most prey taken are around half the weight of the preying eagle, with a typical prey weight range of 0.5–4 kg (1.1–8.8 lb) but mostly in the lower half of that range.[10] Studies have shown an estimated mean prey weight of 1.614 kg (3.56 lb) for golden eagles across their range.[10] Only 15.8% of prey weighs over 4 kg (8.8 lb).[10] At a nest studied in Mongolia, prey items were found to be heavier than those known elsewhere in the range, with an estimated mean weight of around 3 kg (6.6 lb).[36] The average estimated weight of prey taken by most other Aquila species is generally much lower but the wedge-tailed eagle seemingly takes prey of a similar weight (both in average and range of prey weights) while the Verreaux's eagle average prey weight is higher, probably over 2 kg (4.4 lb)