page_title: Spanish imperial eagle
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Spanish imperial eagle / Description
caption_attribution_description: Aquila adalberti
context_page_description: The Iberian Imperial Eagle, also known as the Spanish imperial eagle, Spanish eagle, or Adalbert's eagle, is a threatened species of eagle native to the Iberian Peninsula. The binomial commemorates Prince Adalbert of Bavaria.
  Formerly, the Iberian imperial eagle was considered to be a subspecies of the eastern imperial eagle, but is now widely recognised as a separate species due to differences in morphology, ecology, and molecular characteristics.
context_section_description: This is a large raptor and fairly large eagle, broadly similar in size to its cousin, the eastern imperial eagle, which is found in a considerably different distributional range. Compared to sympatric largish booted eagles, it is somewhat smaller than the golden eagle and somewhat larger than the Bonelli's eagle. Spanish imperial eagle can weigh from 2.5 to 4.8 kg (5.5 to 10.6 lb), with average weights ranging from 3.19 to 3.93 kg (7.0 to 8.7 lb). This species has a total length of 74 to 85 cm (29 to 33 in) and a wingspan of 177 to 220 cm (5 ft 10 in to 7 ft 3 in). The adult resembles the eastern imperial eagle and can superficially suggest the golden eagle (especially when distantly seen), but is overall a darker color than either, a rich blackish-brown which extends all the way to the throat.
  Like the eastern imperial, the adult has a broad distinctive white band on the shoulder and leading edge of the wing and a much paler tawny color on the nape and crown, unlike the golden-yellow color on a similar area in the golden eagle. The juvenile Spanish imperial eagle is very different from adults and other large raptors in this range, being overall a uniform pale straw-sandy colour, contrasting with broad black bands on both the upper and lower sides of the wings. Smaller than the relatively small race of golden eagle found in the Iberian peninsula, it is somewhat slighter and slenderer in appearance compared to the more powerful golden species, with a relatively longer neck, and generally much flatter wing profile in flight than the upturned dihedral typical of a golden eagle.
caption: A captive subadult Spanish imperial eagle
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