Eastern imperial eagles, like other accipitrids, primarily use visual displays and vocalizations to communicate. They rely heavily on their acute eyesight and use various calls to convey messages to each other during the breeding season.

Visual Displays of Eastern Imperial Eagles

Eastern imperial eagles use a variety of visual displays to communicate with one another. These displays often involve body postures, feather movements, and flight behaviors.

Territorial Displays

Male eastern imperial eagles perform diving flight displays high above their territory to advertise that the territory is occupied. This display is a way of signaling to other eagles that the area is claimed and defended.

Pair Bonding Displays

Pairs of eastern imperial eagles perform displays together, such as gliding with their legs dangling below them after chasing off an intruder from their territory. These displays help to strengthen the bond between the pair and reinforce their claim to the territory.

Threat Displays

Eastern imperial eagles use threat displays to discourage intruders from entering their territory. These displays involve raising the crest or head feathers, stretching the head and neck forward, and/or opening the wings.

Vocalizations of Eastern Imperial Eagles

Image source: eastern imperial eagle By Koshy Koshy

In addition to visual displays, eastern imperial eagles use vocalizations to communicate with each other, particularly during the breeding season.

Breeding Season Calls

During the breeding season, eastern imperial eagles use calls to convey a variety of messages, including signaling hunger, alarm, location, soliciting copulation, or defending territory. These calls are rarely heard outside of the breeding season.

Prey Attraction Calls

Eastern imperial eagles are also attracted to the calls of their prey, which they use to help locate and identify potential food sources.

Habitat and Hunting Behavior

Eastern imperial eagles are opportunistic predators that inhabit a variety of habitats, including forests, mountains, hills, steppes, open landscapes, agricultural areas, and even semideserts. They are diurnal, with a few exceptional species that are crepuscular or hunt at dusk and at night.

Hunting Strategies

Eastern imperial eagles use their acute eyesight to spot prey from a distance and rely on their hearing to detect prey as well. They are skilled hunters and will take a variety of prey, including small mammals, birds, reptiles, and even carrion.

Conservation Concerns

Eastern imperial eagles are classified as endangered at the European level and vulnerable at the global level. The primary threats to their survival include habitat alterations, such as forestry operations in their breeding areas, as well as both intentional and unintentional interference, including hunting and ingesting poisons meant to control other species.

Conclusion

Eastern imperial eagles are fascinating birds of prey that rely on a combination of visual displays and vocalizations to communicate with one another, particularly during the breeding season. Their acute eyesight and hunting strategies make them skilled predators, but their conservation status is a concern due to threats to their habitat and human interference.

References:
– Accipitridae – hawks, eagles, and relatives – Animal Diversity Web, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Accipitridae/
– Aquila heliaca – Imperial eagle – Animal Diversity Web, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Aquila_heliaca/
– Eagle Bird Facts – A-Z Animals, https://a-z-animals.com/animals/eagle/