The white–tailed eagle is the fourth largest bird of prey in Europe.  The plumage of the adult is brown, the head and neck are light brown, and only the short wedge-shaped tail is pure white. But the white plumage of the tail appears in eagles with age, in young birds the tail is brown.

Social behavior

White-tailed sea eagles live separately, in constant pairs. The density of their nesting depends on the presence of nesting trees and the abundance of food. Only in winter, nomadic sea eagles can gather in small groups to feed on carrion or waste from fish processing plants.

Reproduction

The female usually lays 2-4 eggs. Both parents take part in incubation, but the main role belongs to the female. Incubation lasts 35-40 days. Young birds leave the nest at the age of 65-75 days, but even after they start hunting independently, adult birds feed them and do not drive them out of their territory.

Species and people

In Ukraine, two main habitats of the white–tailed eagle are now being formed: the Dnieper River basin and the Seversky Donets. In total, about 100 pairs nest in the country.

At present, to restore the white–tailed eagle population, it is necessary to protect nesting sites, in particular, to preserve certain large trees on which the eagles nest after cutting down, to reduce the anxiety factor to which these birds are very sensitive, and to comply with the ban on shooting adult birds. In some cases, special nesting platforms are arranged on trees to attract white-tailed birds.

Interesting Facts

During the mating games, white–tailed eagles seem to lock their claws together and so turn somersaults in the air, sometimes falling almost to the ground. Then they uncouple and take to the air again.

Eagle nests are very large: they can reach 2 m in diameter and 1 m in height.