Eastern Imperial Eagle

The eastern imperial eagle is a large, dark-coloured eagle that resembles other Aquila eagles but is usually the darkest species in its range, and its feathered legs mark it as one of the booted eagles. Adults are 68–90 cm long with a typical wingspan of 1.76–2.2 m, and females average a larger wingspan than males. It breeds in south-eastern Europe and extensively across west and central Asia (Wikipedia, general species account).

Most populations are migratory and winter in north-east Africa, the Middle East and South and East Asia. It is an opportunistic predator that mostly takes smallish mammals but also a fairly large proportion of birds, reptiles and carrion, and nests are usually in large, mature trees, where the parents raise around one or two fledglings. Moderate to quite low numbers are usually noted at migration sites in the Himalaya (Wikipedia, general species account).