I remember a physical education class in elementary school when I suddenly saw a bird circling in the sky, and although the bird was far from the ground from the distance, we could still see its wide wingspan, and even felt the whistling wind in our ears.
I was deeply immersed in the shock, but the little friend next to me had already reacted, shouting one after another: "Look, look, eagle!" ”
This was the first time in my life that I had been exposed to a bird of prey, and the impact of that bird in the sky was enormous, so for a long time I was bragging everywhere. However, as I grew older, the specific image of the bird in my mind gradually blurred, and on the contrary, a doubt in my heart became more and more serious:
Was the big bird I saw really an eagle?
Maybe some people will find this question strange, isn't it that eagles can see it at a glance? Although large birds are rarely seen in the city now, the image of the eagle is deeply rooted in people's hearts, and as long as it can be seen, it should not be mistaken.
If you have the same idea, we might as well make a game first. Let me put a few pictures of birds and let's take a look at which one is an eagle.
A
B
C
D
And
F
I don't know if you are a little dizzy, these 6 kinds of birds from top to bottom are goshawks, spear falcons, golden eagles, owls, ospreys, and Andean condors.
Maybe after looking at the name, everyone will be more dizzy, the names of these 6 kinds of birds almost all carry the word "eagle", as for the eagle and the falcon, in our concept, it seems that there is not much difference?
In fact, this is exactly what I want to say today, according to the traditional name, we call many birds of prey eagles, and these birds of prey look very similar, but biologically speaking, they are completely different animals.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the classification of eagle families</h1>
If from a biological point of view, all eagles or birds that look like eagles are included in the falcon order, and the falcons have 5 families, namely falcons, eagles, American vultures, ospreys, and snakes.
Ugly words, everyone will just look at it
The birds of prey shown to you before correspond to these families, such as the spear falcon corresponding to the falcon family, the Andean condor corresponding to the American vulture family, the osprey corresponding to the osprey family, and the eagle subfamily and the eagle subfamily corresponding to the eagle family and the eagle family corresponding to the goshawk and the golden eagle respectively.
Maybe a sharp-eyed friend will find that I seem to have missed an owl. Yes, the owl is very different in appearance from several other birds of prey, so it does not belong to the order Falcon, but belongs to the order Owl alone, which is considered a distant relative of the eagle.
After understanding the basic classifications, we have been able to make basic distinctions between some birds of prey. First of all, the owl is certainly not an eagle, and the osprey and the Andean condor and spear falcon are not creatures in the eagle family, although they look like eagles, they are really not eagles. As for the eagle belonging to the eagle subfamily, it is not strictly an eagle.
Wow, after I looked at my classification, I really think the distinction is so clear... What a ghost! I know that for everyone, even if you understand the classification of various biologies, it is actually not very meaningful. That's because even if we knew that these birds of prey were different, we still couldn't distinguish them well in appearance.
So since I want to popularize science, I want to popularize science to the end, and then I will talk to you about how to judge whether the birds of prey we see are eagles from the appearance. Given the unique appearance of owls, the American vulture family, the vulture family and the snake vulture family are rare in China. So my next distinction focuses on the broad sense between eagles (including the eagle subfamily and eagle subfamily) and falcons.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the distinction between eagle and falcon in a broad sense</h1>
If you want to judge the birds of the Falcon family and the Eagle family, there are roughly the following five criteria, which can be used as a reference.
1. Look at the body type
In terms of body size, the birds of the Falcon family will be smaller than the birds of the Eagle family, which can be a slight reduction in body size or a large reduction in the whole.
For example, the birds of the Falcon family represented by the white-legged falcon are simply incredible in size. Those who know will think it is a bird of prey, and those who don't know will probably only sigh: "Wow, what a cute magpie." ”
2. Look at the wings
The wings mentioned here refer to the shape of the wings when flying, and when the birds of the eagle family fly, the wings are relatively wide and round, and the wing fingers at the end of the wings can be seen, that is, the part of the red circle below.
Birds of the Falcon family, on the other hand, have sharper wings and flat ends, and from the bottom up, the winged fingers on the wings are barely visible.
This method of judgment is simple and straightforward, and it is very easy to operate. However, it is worth noting that although this law is good, there are some exceptions. For example, although the karak belongs to the subfamily Falconidae of the Falcon family, its wings are like birds of the eagle family, with distinct winged fingers.
Kara Eagle! You say you're not messing around?
3. Look at the flight pattern
Because there are exceptions, the way to judge the wings can only be used as an auxiliary judgment. In terms of reliability, I recommend that you use the flight attitude judgment method.
Birds of the eagle family will greatly stretch their wings when flying, so that the entire wings are spread in a straight line, and the frequency of wings flapping is low when flying, like a glider flying above the sky.
Birds of the Falcon family will fold their wings slightly when flying, making the entire attitude into an M-shape, and in order to maintain their high maneuverability, they tend to flap their wings with high frequency when flying.
Some experienced birdwatchers can tell which species it roughly belongs to by the flying attitude of the bird in the distance.
4. Look at the eyes
Eagle eyes are also very distinctive, their iris color is mostly lighter, so ordinary people can clearly distinguish between the iris and pupil at a glance. And most eagles have a prominent orbital crest, giving a very fierce feeling.
As for the birds of the Falcon family, the color of the iris is mostly darker, and it is not clear to distinguish where the iris is and where the pupil is not carefully distinguished. So the birds of the Falcon family look big, far more cute than eagles.
5. Mouth and nose
Looking at the nose and eyes of birds is also a good way to judge. If you look at the eagle's mouth, you will find that their mouths show a smooth curve and the nostrils are also very transparent.
Observing birds of the Falcon family, it will be found that they will have a very obvious tooth process on both sides of the mouth, so that the front part of the mouth takes on a serrated shape. And they have a columnar bone in their nose, which is called a bone stick.
Remember the one I talked about earlier? Although it is a bird of the Falcon family, its appearance is very similar to that of birds of the Eagle Family. But even so, the karak still has a tooth protrusion in its mouth and a bone stick in its nose. This also proves from the side that the method of observing the mouth and nose is a more reliable method.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the difference between the Eagle family and the Eagle family</h1>
Above I have introduced the difference between the entire eagle family and the falcon family, and then I will briefly talk about how to distinguish birds from birds of the eagle subfamily and birds of the eagle subfamily.
In fact, the eagle and the eagle belong to the same family, and the difference in form itself is not very large. For the average person, the best way to distinguish is to look at the legs and mouth.
Animals in the eagle subfamily have a gentle curvature of their mouths and no feathers on their legs. The upper curvature of the mouth of the subfamily eagle is more pronounced, and the tarsal part of the leg is covered with feathers.
Golden Eagle: "My mother told me to wear autumn pants." ”
Just as there is no wife in the so-called wife cake, the eagle you usually call may not be an eagle. But if you think about it, this is exactly the wonder of living things. When we sort out these chaotic and vague concepts, and then look up into the sky, we will find that the original world is far more complex and colorful than imagined.
References:[1]Xu Yongchun.18 species of raptors and their prey[J].Life World, 2018(05):80-85.
[2] Zhao Zhenchun eagle: "Eagle" or "eagle"? [J].Research on Scientific and Technological Terms,2003(03):35-36.
Zheng Guangmei. Taxonomy and distribution of birds in China (2nd edition). Beijing:Science Press.]
[4] White, Clayton M.; Olsen, Penny D. & Kiff, Lloyd F. (1994): Family Falconidae. In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (editors): Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 2 (New World Vultures to Guineafowl): 216–75, plates 24–28. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-15-6
[5] Heitzelman, Donald S. Hawks & Owls in Eastern North America. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. 2004: 96–98.
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