Sea Eagle

This is an unedited photo of the sea eagle. It is the largest European eagle and the largest predator found in the Czech Republic. The length of its body reaches 76–92 cm and measures 190–253 cm in the wingspan. Some individuals may have a range of up to 260 cm. Females are larger and more massive than most other predators. The weight of a male is about 4 kg on average, the female weighs about 5.5 kg. The weight of large females is around 7 kg and the maximum detected weight was 10.8 kg.

Both the sea eagle is one of the largest eagles in terms of both weight and range (on average, the eastern eagle and the forest harpy surpass it in weight). The color is dark brown, only the tail is white, or other lighter areas appear on the head and neck. In-flight, it is easily recognizable by the characteristic appearance of long wide wings with long hand squadrons. The tail is wedge-shaped, its color changes significantly during life. It changes from brown young birds, through brownish-white marbled to white with brown edges of the feathers in sexually mature individuals. Similarly, it gradually brightens older birds not only the head and chest, where the original brown (white speckled) color can change to brownish-yellow, but also the beak, which changes from brown to bright yellow. The featherless legs are yellow. Male and female differ in size only.

Author: Martin Šabatka