Bonelli's Eagle, Aquila Fasciata, Bald Eagle

On this occasion, Manuel Mayor Rabasa, El Beato, talks about the Bonelli's eagle (Aquila Fasciata), a bird of great beauty that lives in the mountains of Finestrat. On the steep and inaccessible rocks of Puig Campana and Sierra Cortina it sometimes builds its nests. As always, thanks to the generosity of the author of this article, we can learn more about the fauna and flora of this town in the Marina Baixa.

Did you know???

I am a medium-large bird of prey, about 60 to 70 cm. in length and a weight of between 1,600 Kg. and 2,500 Kg, with a wingspan with open wings that "scares the most painted", 150-160 cm. in males, 165-180 cm in females, all of them approximate measurements.

My back has a dark-brown coloration, with a white spot in the center. The throat, chest, and belly is white, dotted with dark-brown vertical stripes, contrasting with the black longitudinal bands on the underparts of the wings. The wings are short, broad, and rounded, and the tail is long, pale, with a broad dark terminal band.

The head is small and the neck long. The eyes, large in size, are intense yellow. The beak is gray, large, curved at the end, pointed, and with a yellow protuberance (wax), which allows me to tear and skin the flesh with ease. The legs, very long, are robust, athletic and are completely covered with white feathers. The fingers are yellow, very large and strong, with sharp black nails, which facilitate the transport of prey.

Foto realizada a través de Inteligencia artificial

When we are young, the plumage on the back is light brown and we do not have a white spot in the center. The throat, belly and breast are reddish-orange or cinnamon, the underparts of the wings are light in colour and the iris of the eyes are brownish. It will take 4 years to acquire adult plumage.

Females are larger and darker plumage than males.

Strong, powerful, and betting in appearance. We are brave, reckless, warriors, acrobats in flight, silent, discreet and the most agile among the eagles.

We feed on partridges, hence the origin of our name "Bonelli's eagle", however, our favorite prey are the rabbit and the rock pigeon. We also hunt seagulls, crows, rooks, magpies, small birds, hares, foxes, rats, squirrels, mice, weasels, etc. If "hunger strikes" we eat reptiles and amphibians: lizards, snakes, toads. We capture our victims in an agile and accurate way. Sometimes they are as huge as we are: herons and vultures. We are able to see them at a distance of 500 meters high, since we have great visual acuity; or we wait for them lurking from the top of a tree or a rock. We capture them on the ground by crushing or chase them until they are captured. We also caught them in mid-flight. On many occasions we hunt in pairs: one flies at ground level and the other at mid-altitude.

Our main enemies are the Eagle Owl, when we are young, the Golden Eagle, with which we fiercely rival, since we share the same food tastes and breeding places, and the marten, which takes the eggs from the nest taking advantage of our absences.

Our preferred accommodations are dry or semi-arid places. We prefer a warm, Mediterranean climate, with mountainous areas, with the presence of scrubland to be able to see our victims as best as possible.

We are monogamous, diurnal, faithful to the place where we live and long-lived. By the age of 30, our claws weaken, the beak curves too much, the wings age and become heavy. We have difficulty flying and hunting. Our end is near.

On some occasions, young women, when they reach maturity, return to their places of birth to begin parenting.