What am I Seeing Soaring?

From The Raptor

So, where to start with this one? I have been asked to explain the difference between a golden eagle and a sea eagle. I don’t think it’s the scientific differences but more like how to tell what you are looking at in the sky when out walking, when you get that fleeting glimpse of a big bird either away up high or moving across the hilltops in the distance.

So as I’ve already said, ‘where to start?' Well to begin with from here on in the golden eagle will be a GE and a sea eagle will be a SE. The SE is the larger of the two birds in weight, height and wing span. In both species the female bird is the larger, however a large male GE can be larger than a small female SE and a small female GE can be smaller than a large male SE - it's that simple and as complicated as it gets. Anyway, you can forget all that as it’s not really important for day to day spotting.

Although you cannot use this next fact as a rule it is useful to remember: the SE is not quite as afraid of us as the GE, therefore you could be more likely to get a closer view of a SE than of a GE. On a personal note I have never had a close up view of a GE but have had a SE flying alongside the car just above the trees - the SE not the car. There is a better chance of seeing a SE above water than a GE as the SE eats fish from the water so it's of interest to them whereas the GE does not show too much interest in the water, well I’ve never seen an aquatic rabbit!

Both hunt over land, so here we go again, both birds are much larger than the buzzard, both are much more steady in the sky and will make much larger lazy circles than the buzzard who seems to move faster with more haste than the eagles. The SE has much broader and squarer edged wings than the GE, the GE having much more shape to its wings which narrow towards the body and are more rounded towards the tips than the square ender wings of the SE. The GE has a much longer tail than the SE; this makes the GE tail longer than the head and neck, the SE tail and head being much the same length to look at in flight. The GE tail is rounded whereas the SE tail is wedge shaped, just like a raven's; also the adult SE tail will be fully white, and this is easily picked out in good light. Now I have said the GE has a shorter head and neck than the SE, but the GE also has a golden head and neck giving the bird its name. This also can be picked out if the light is good. The SE has a much larger beak than the GE and again in the adult bird is bright yellow - easily spotted in good light.

So if you are still awake I will go over this again briefly. The GE is smaller, has more shapely wings, has a golden head and neck, has a shorter head and neck compared to the longer darker rounded tail and a smaller beak. The SE is much larger, has squarer, broader wings, a longer head and neck compared to its white wedge-shaped tail, and has a bigger yellow beak.

If this has made any sense then the next time you are out and about with your binos and a large bird swings into view, you should not panic and get all excited but stay calm and think about one of these more obvious points and concentrate on it for a few seconds until you can see the difference and come to your decision - even better if it's two birds that come into view, one of each, then you can compare them against each other, and this happens more often than you might think.

But please remember, whichever of these birds you are looking at, soak it in and enjoy the sight of one of the most magnificent birds to grace the skies of our world, renowned and revered for its beauty, its grace and its mysticism by the Red Indians, the Aztecs, the Greeks, the Romans, the Cossacks, and the Egyptians. In modern day writing, the letter ‘a’ is adapted from the form of a crouching eagle; and think of some national flags and nations that depict the eagle as their national emblem, such as the Americans. Finally, think of our own country where some people would see every one of these magnificent birds blasted out of the skies, and feel ashamed for them.

Now for a test. Identify each of the following, and send your answers as a 'Comment':

PICTURE A:

PICTURE B:

PICTURE C: