Why did the ‘lord of the sky’ have to break his beak and break his claws at the age of 40?

Eagle is a large bird of prey known as the “lord of the sky”.

TPO – Eagle, a large bird of prey known as the “lord of the sky” lives in high mountains and primeval forests. What makes this bird have to break its beak, break all its claws in 150 days in the 40s?

The eagle is a large bird of prey in the order Falcon, class Birds, family Accipitridae. They live everywhere with high mountains and primeval forests that have not been cleared by humans such as the coasts of Australia, Indonesia, Africa… but mainly the Eurasian continent with about 60 species, the remaining 11 species. Other species found on the remaining continents include 2 species in the North American continent, 9 species in Central and South America and 3 species in Australia.

There are many different identifying characteristics among eagle species, but the highlight is the color and size of each species. The largest eagle has a body length of more than 1m and weighs 7kg. The smallest species is only 0.4m long and weighs more than 0.5kg. Females are usually larger than males and about 25% heavier than males.

Their main food is small animals ranging from bats to the size of a Philippine deer depending on where they live. For example, in Luzon island, the main food is monkeys, birds, flying foxes, fish, and in Mindanao island, lemurs, snakes, lizards… they even eat ungulates like piglets. , puppy. From above, eagles can swoop down at lightning speed to catch and quickly knock down their prey.

Eagles often nest in mountains or tall trees. Their nest is very large and each year they bring back new branches to make the nest stronger than before. The nest is where the female bird lays her eggs. Each spawning period, the female bird gives birth to 2 eggs. Since the parent bird is only capable of raising one young, there will often be a duel between the two chicks. The one that wins will be raised until adulthood.

The Steller’s sea eagle is the largest of the nearly 100 species of eagles worldwide. Their weight is up to 10kg. The nest of the Steller’s sea eagle is about 15-20m high, built on large trees (up to 150m high, 2.5m in diameter). The spawning season is usually in February – March, and eggs are laid in April – May.

The painful makeover lasted 150 days

Why the 'lord of the sky' had to break his beak and break his claws at the age of 40 photo 1

Eagles have an average lifespan of about 70 years.

Eagles have an average lifespan of about 70 years, which can be considered as one of the animals with the longest lifespan. But before reaching this age, the eagle has to go through a harsh and painful time. At the age of 40, the eagle’s beak became weak. The plumage became so thick and heavy, it was difficult to fly fast and high in the air. This is when the eagle must make two decisions: Lie down to die or undergo a painful molting that lasts 150 days. At the eagle’s nest at the top of the mountain, it will bang its beak against the cliff until it breaks apart. When the new beak formed, it began to break all the claws again.When the new claws are strong enough, it pulls out each hair on its own until it is smooth and waits for new hair to form. A painful process of molting… that surely without a strong will would be impossible to overcome. Unlike all species that flee the storm, the eagle will fly to the top of the mountain and wait. And when the storm comes, the eagle will use the power of the storm to send its wings to fly high into the sky. For the eagle, the storm is not a bad omen. It is a lever, an opportunity to strengthen the eagle’s power to dominate the sky.