White-tailed Eagle

The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), also known as the ern, erne, gray eagle, Eurasian sea eagle and white-tailed sea-eagle, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which includes other raptors such as hawks, kites, and harriers. They are found in Eurasia, near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting. They are considered a close cousin of the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).
== Description ==
The white-tailed eagle is a very large bird. It measures 66–94 cm (26–37 in) in length with a 1.78–2.45 m (5.8–8.0 ft) wingspan. The wingspan, with a midpoint of 2.18 m (7.2 ft), is on average the largest of any eagle. The Steller's sea eagle, larger in both weight and total length, is the closest rival for median wingspan amongst living eagles. The bald eagle is roughly the same size as the white-tailed eagle, although has a shorter average wingspan and usually longer total length, due to a longer tail.
Females, typically weighing 4–6.9 kg (8.8–15.2 lb), are slightly larger than males, which weigh 3.1–5.4 kg (6.8–11.9 lb). The record weight for the species was 7.5 kg (17 lb) for a specimen from Scotland, while a more recent huge female from Greenlandreportedly spanned 2.53 m (8.3 ft) across the wings. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 55.2–71.7 cm (21.7–28.2 in), the tail is 25–33 cm (9.8–13.0 in), the tarsus is 9.2–10.1 cm (3.6–4.0 in) and the exposed culmen is 6–6.5 cm (2.4–2.6 in).
Size variation is generally a clinal trend: measurements of eagles from Greenland are in general larger than in other populations of the species, while those from the (now discontinuous) population in the Middle East, at the southern extreme of this species distribution, are the smallest in the species. The white-tailed eagle is sometimes considered the fourth largest eagle in the world and is on average the fourth heaviest eagle in the world.
This species has broad "barn door" wings, a large head and a large thick beak. The adult is mainly grayish-brown except for the slightly paler head and neck, blackish flight feathers, and distinctive white tail. All bare parts are yellow in color, including both the bill and the legs. In juvenile birds, tail and bill are darker, the tail becoming white with a dark terminal band in sub-adults. The combination of mousy-brown coloration, broad, evenly held wings, white tail, strong yellow bill and overall large size render the white-tailed eagle essentially unmistakable in its native range.
Second year birds have paler bellies and third year birds are darker. It has four or five body moults before reaching adult plumage. Only a proportion of the flight feathers are moulted each year. Moults more or less continuously, although it may pause in winter if food is in short supply.
Some individuals have been found to live over 25 years, 21 years being the average.
Check out Wikipedia for more details!