bird of the day: short toed snake eagle

the short toed snake eagle is a large bird of prey found in parts of europe, asia, and africa.

part of the short toed snake eagle’s name comes from its diet. 70-80% of the bird’s diet consists of reptiles, mainly snakes and lizards.

the snake eagle has varied plumage throughout its range, and several subspecies exist. however, the eagle is off-white with brown blotches, though the amount of brown on the bird varies.

these birds can reach up to 17 years of age. their breeding is relatively slow – while many birds produce clutches of multiple eggs, snake eagles lay only one egg.

short-toed snake eagles are rated least concern by the iucn, but their population sizes are decreasing, in part due to habitat loss and hunting.

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spunky the red-tailed hawk is a unique member of a flock of bald eagles. researchers aren’t completely sure how he ended up with the flock, but he appears to have imprinted on the eagles, and the eagles have accepted him as one of them. spunky shows some hawk behavior, but has also learned eagle hunting and social behaviors.

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a florida photographer spotted a black vulture and bald eagle sharing a meal together. while vultures are often sterotyped as dirty scavengers and bald eagles as strong hunters, they both eat carrion, and sometimes bald eagles eat & socialize with vultures.

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today’s birds are: these bald eagles! [thank you to @lysa44 for your submission!]