Verreaux's eagle

Description

Verreaux's eagle is a very large eagle.It measures 75 to 96 cm (30 to 38 in) long from the bill to the tip of the tail,making it the sixth longest eagle in the world.Males can weigh 3 to 4.2 kg (6.6 to 9.3 lb) and the larger females weigh 3.1 to 7 kg (6.8 to 15.4 lb).The average weight is approximately 4.19 kg (9.2 lb),based on the weights of 21 eagles of both sexes.Other reported mean body mass measurements of Verreaux's eagles were lower however,with seven unsexed birds averaging 3.32 kg (7.3 lb),while four unsexed eagles in an additional study averaged 3.72 kg (8.2 lb).In another group of weighed eagles,four females were found to average 4.6 kg (10 lb),which is more than a kilogram more than the average male,It is the seventh or eighth heaviest living eagle in the world.In average mass and overall weight range,if not linear measurements,the Verreaux's is very similar in size to its occasional competitor,the martial eagle,which is regularly titled the largest of the African eagles.It also rivals the martial and golden eagles as the largest extant member of the "booted eagle" clan.It has a wingspan of 1.81 to 2.3 m (5 ft 11 in to 7 ft 7 in).The wing chord of the male is 56.5 to 59.5 cm (22.2 to 23.4 in) and that of the female is 59 to 64 cm (23 to 25 in).Among other standard measurements in the Verreaux's eagles,both sexes measure 27.2 to 36 cm (10.7 to 14.2 in) in tail length and 9.5 to 11 cm (3.7 to 4.3 in) in tarsus length.Other than the female’s slight size advantage,adult males and females are physically indistinguishable from each other.Adult Verreaux's eagles are mostly jet-black in color.The yellow coloration of the cere (the bill is gun-metal grey),eye-ring and “eye-brows”,all stand out in contrast to the black plumage.Even more prominent on flying birds when seen from above is the white on the back,rump and upper-tail coverts and part of the scapulars,which forms a V-shaped patch,although this feature is partially obscured in perched birds.Adults also have conspicuous white windows on the wing quills at the carpal joint (at the base of the primaries) when seen flying both from above and below.The bill is stout,the head is prominent on the relatively long neck and the legs are fully feathered.