They are beautiful and dangerous.
For many centuries, birds of prey perceived by human mystic, endowed with special powers. In various tribal cultures had religious movement dedicated to predatory murderers, they became patrons of their warriors and shamans. In modern ornithology the term “bird of prey” refers to any kind of birds that have strong talons, sharp eyes and strong curved beak. Theoretically, the most large representatives of this species could easily kill a person.
Great grey owl
Great grey owl is considered to be the world’s biggest bird from the order of owls. At length the great gray owl can grow up to 84 inches. The habitat of the birds is quite wide: great grey owl prefers forest areas and is found in the territories from Siberia to Transbaikalia.
The Andean Condor
Found in the Andes and on the Pacific coast of South America. Condors can live up to seventy years, but the population of these birds is under threat. A flying bird looks particularly spectacular: they hover high in the sky, catching updrafts of warm air. The Condor wings wide open in a horizontal plane, the ends of feathers splayed — even in normal flight, this appearance looks to be preparing a rapid dive for prey.
Martial eagle
Only one pair of martial eagles dominates the area in thousand square kilometers. These birds are not very gregarious: pairs breed at a distance of about 50 kilometers from each other. The only enemy of the martial eagle is the man — other creatures bird just not dangerous.
Philippine eagle
Eagle-obtianed is considered one of the rarest, largest and most powerful birds in the world. It can be found only in the tropical forests of the Philippines: here he is considered a national symbol of the country. For the murder of eagle local law provides for twelve years of prison — for comparison, for killing a man faces a total of nine years.
The snow vulture
One of the largest vultures in the world lives in the high regions of the Himalayas, Pamirs and Kazakhstan. A few nesting snow vulture occur on the Tibetan plateau. Hunting this species is prohibited by local law, but poachers capture of the fretboard means huge profits, and the bird population has been steadily declining.
Vulture
So the bird was named due to misconceptions about her diet: it was believed that this member of the hawk family hunts sheep. In fact, the vulture feeds mainly on carrion, making an exception only for turtles.
The South American harpy
This large hawk is found in the plains and rainforests of South America. The harpy preys on large mammals such as sloths and monkeys. Unfortunately, deforestation in the nesting harpies leads to decrease of populations of these beautiful and dangerous birds: now have less than 40 000 individuals.
Hawk eagle
The biggest bird of South Africa is most often found South of the Sahara. The hawk eagle is armed with a huge, razor-sharp claws, and blow his rear paws so strong that it could topple even a person.
Eagle
The best-known and most common bird of prey throughout the Northern hemisphere. The wingspan of the Golden eagle reaches impressive of 2.34 meters — a real killing machine. Bird since ancient times is the patron Saint of hunters and is quite a mystery in many tribal cultures.
Wandering Albatross
The wingspan of a wandering Albatross is as much as 325 cm, the largest among all the existing birds. The Albatross lives up to thirty years, which makes it a real champion and long-lasting.
