Welcome to You Ask Andy

Sandra Davis., Age 11, Of Newark, N.J., for her question,:

Which is the largest eagle?

The sea roving albatross has a wider wingspread than any of the eagles. The biggest flying bird is the gaudy condor of the lofty Andes. This 25 pound vulture rates as a cousin of the true eagles. But these big flying birds are sparrows compared with the whopping ostrich, who may tip the scales at 300 pounds.

The standard carried before caesar's armies was an eagle made of gold. The Czars of Russia and the kings of Austria chose as their emblems a mythical two headed Eagle, and the warlike Prussians marched behind a flag bearing a black eag1e. And, of course, the national emblem of the united states is the handsome white headed Eagle, the so called bald eagle.

The eagle. King of birds, inspires the imagination with his lordly majesty. Science classifies him in the order falconiforme  which makes him cousin to the kites and the condors, the hawks and falcons, the graceful osprey and the hungry vulture.

Some of the falconiformes are no bigger than sparrows, but a1l the eagles are whopping birds. It would be hard to decide which is the biggest of the eagle family. A certain Golden eagle kept in captivity at bear mountain in Pennsylvania weighed 16 pounds and had a wingspread of almost six feet. Old abe was a tame bald eagle who served as a Mascot in the war between the states. When (tally grown, his wingspread was six and a half feet, and. He tipped the scales at 16.2 pounds.

Our big native eag1es ere the golden eag1e and the so called bald eagle, and some times one spices  is bigger than the other. Out in Alaska soars the white tailed Eagle, which may be as big or sometimes bigger than our native eag1es. Siberia also has a white tailed eagle and a sooty black eag1e of about the same size as our own big birds. The female eagle is larger than the male, and a large specimen of almost any of the big eag1es may weigh 12 to 16 pounds and have a wingspread of eight feet.

Eag1es are birds of prey who feed on rabbits and rodents, fishes and foxes, lambs and s sometimes small deer. A big eagle cannot lift much more than eight pounds—which means that he cannot snatch up growing children.

The harpy eag1e of South America, has a wingspread of seven feet and stands three feet high. He is not the largest, but he is one of the most eye catching eagles.  The harpy  half bird, half woman  was a greedy creature of mythology, and the harpy Eagle has a harpy expression. His fierce face is fi11ed with feathers and topped with a tall crest. His scowling eyes and stern eag1e beak add to his menacing, Harpy appearanee.

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