Lesser spotted eagle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lesser spotted eagle |
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| Juvenile Note white spots on wings and white V on rump |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Clanga
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| Species: |
pomarina
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| Range of C. pomarina
Breeding Non-breeding Passage |
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| Synonyms | |
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Aquila pomarina |
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The lesser spotted eagle (Clanga pomarina) is a large bird of prey found in Eastern Europe. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family called Accipitridae. This family includes many birds of prey like hawks and sea eagles.
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What Does It Look Like?
This eagle is a medium-sized bird. It is about 60 centimeters (2 feet) long. Its wings can spread out to about 150 centimeters (5 feet) wide.
Its head and the feathers covering its wings are light brown. This color stands out against its darker body feathers. The eagle's head and beak are quite small for an eagle.
You can usually see a white patch on its upper wings. Even adult eagles have a clear white "V" shape on their lower back, called the rump. Another eagle, the greater spotted eagle, does not have these wing markings. Its white "V" on the rump is also not as clear.
Young lesser spotted eagles have less color contrast on their wings. But their main flight feathers, called remiges, have bright white spots. You can tell them apart from young greater spotted eagles because they don't have spots on their wing coverts. They also have a cream-colored patch on their neck.
The sound this eagle makes is like a dog's bark, a "yip."
Eagle Family Tree: Taxonomy and Evolution
Scientists used to think that eagles living in India were the same kind of lesser spotted eagle. But now they are considered a separate species, called the Indian spotted eagle (Clanga hastata). These two eagles are different in how they look, act, where they live, and even their DNA.
The European lesser spotted eagle is actually more closely related to the greater spotted eagle. Their shared ancestor likely lived about 3.6 million years ago. This was during a time called the middle Pliocene epoch. This "proto-spotted eagle" probably lived near Afghanistan. It split into two groups when glaciers and deserts grew in Central Asia. This happened as the last ice age began.
The northern group then split again into the eastern (greater) and western (lesser) species we see today. This happened about 2 million years ago, around the time the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs met.
Sometimes, the lesser spotted eagle and the greater spotted eagle mate and have babies together. These mixed birds are called hybrids. It is very hard to tell hybrid birds apart unless you see them very close up.
Where Do Lesser Spotted Eagles Live?
The lesser spotted eagle makes its nests and raises its young in Central and Eastern Europe. They also live southeastward into Turkey and Armenia. When winter comes, these eagles fly south to Africa. This journey is called migration.
This eagle is a very careful bird. It lives in open areas or places with light woods. It hunts for small mammals on the ground. These include voles, ground squirrels, rats, and mice. It also eats other small animals like birds, amphibians, reptiles, and sometimes even insects like termites. Sometimes, it will also eat dead animals, which is called carrion.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Lesser spotted eagles use the same nesting areas year after year. These areas are spaced out regularly in the northwestern part of their range. The distance between these nesting areas can change. However, this does not seem to affect how many young eagles survive.
When many eagles have good breeding success at the same time, it means they are affected by bigger things. These could be changes in the weather or how much food is available.
The lesser spotted eagle lays one to three white eggs with buff spots. They lay these eggs in a nest built in a tree. Like many eagles, usually only one young bird survives and leaves the nest. This happens even if more than one egg hatches. The female eagle starts sitting on the eggs, called incubating, as soon as the first egg is laid. This means the first chick to hatch is usually bigger and stronger. It might not let its younger siblings survive.
