The steppe eagle is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "booted eagles". This species was once considered to be closely related to the sedentary tawny eagle and the two forms have previously been treated as conspecific. They were split based on pronounced differences in morphology and anatomy; two molecular studies, each based on a very small number of genes, indicate that the species are distinct but disagree over how closely related they are.
Steppe eagle
The gape of the steppe eagle is an easy way to distinguish it from the tawny eagle. The gape extends beyond the centre of the eye as against the tawny. The oval nostril sets it apart from the spotted eagles.
Detailed view of a young steppe eagle in flight in Pakistan.
Adult steppe eagle in flight, Aravalli Biodiversity Park, Gurgaon
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus Aquila. Most of the 68 species of eagles are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just 14 species can be found—two in North America, nine in Central and South America, and three in Australia.
Eagle
Booted eagle in flight
Martial eagle in Namibia
Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) in Southern Philippines