First of all, it should be stressed that eagles are birds of prey, which means that they are wild animals. Therefore, when they “travel”, that is fly, they don’t do it just for the sake of it, or for fun, or as a hobby, but they fly to hunt for food or bring things to make their nest with, to name a few reasons.
Normally, according to the website: Eagle facts, when they become adults, they “mark” their vital territory, within which they hunt ,and the range of which, according to the same website, is about 250 miles. So, this distance can be normally traveled by an adult eagle bird on a daily basis, in order to find food, while avoiding “trespassing” other eagles’ territories.
However, as it is mentioned in the above site, eagles have been found to have traveled in other U.S. states and even southern Canada, with the longest distance recorded roughly standing at 700 miles.
This number is only indicative, and could be higher, when weather conditions become really hard, and eagles can't find food in their area.
In this case, they might have to travel longer distances far to the south, moved by their instinct of survival.
It wouldn’t be a surprise for a big bird like an eagle to cover thousands of miles, since smaller birds, such as pigeons, wild ducks, and other much weaker birds can all fly within this range.
Another reason why eagles may travel longer distances, apart from looking for food or water, is inexperience.
Young eagles (just like humans!) spend an incredibly long time, and cover an equally long distance, in order to spot their prey, learn to hunt, and gain experience in hunting, before they finally settle around their adult nests and territories. On Cornell University’ Lab of Ornithology website about the bald eagle, it is stated that young, and therefore immature, eagles, have been spotted in areas as distant as California and Alaska, which means that they covered more than 2,000 miles.
This article was originally published by me on Steemit.com
You can read it here.
