Steppe eagle

link=//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Steppe_eagle_near_Chandigarh.jpg/220px-Steppe_eagle_near_Chandigarh.jpg|thumb|Steppe eagle near Chandigarh.|244x244pxThe steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) is a large bird of prey. It belongs to the family Accipitridae, like all eagles. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs represents it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae. It is also known as the "booted eagles". This species was once known to be closely related to the sedentary tawny eagle (Aquila rapax). The two forms have previously been treated as conspecific. 

They were split based on pronounced differences in morphology and anatomy; two molecular studies, each based on a very small number of genes. They indicate that the species are distinct but disagree over how closely related they are.

Due to these and other reasons, the decline of the species is thought to be considerably in excess of 50%. Therefore, the species is considered to be endangered by the IUCN. The steppe eagle appears on the flag of Kazakhstan and is the national bird of both Kazakhstan and Egypt.
 References 

 Further reading 



 Other websites 

 Steppe eagle species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

Category:Birds of Africa
Category:National symbols of Egypt