What is the difference between hawks and eagles?

1. 45

   Myn Is Meposted 12 years ago

   What is the difference between hawks and eagles?
   
   

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2. 84

   tsmogposted 12 years ago

   In interesting question if you consider politics. Anyway a quick reply is they are pretty much the same as far as science classifies them. Kingdom, class, family etc. The eagle 'generally speaking is larger' more specifically the head. The hawk tends to be  more woodland orientated vs. eagle mountainous.
   
   The hawk is thought to be the brains of the outfit and the eagle the brawn. When you get into there a little nuances like the Red tailed hawk is a pretty big bird. We have those here where I live. There is one that roosts on the shed at the edge of my garden a few times a month. They have both body size and wing span larger than some eagles. Also, hawk gets tossed about when generalizing birds of prey - falcon, buzzard, eagle, etc.
   
   Don't quote me on this, but I believe here in the northern hemisphere we have more hawks than eagles. I can only think of two - bald and golden eagles in the states. Many eagles call home Asia and Africa

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3. 73

   BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 12 years ago

   There are no bald hawks.
   
   If there were, we wouldn't have faux hawk hairstyles.

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4. 63

   Caveman Etrisposted 12 years ago

   There are many differences. First of all, it depends on which species of hawk you are talking about. The U.S. has many hawk species but here are only two species of Eagles in the United States. Those are the Bald and Golden Eagles. There are other eagle species in different parts of the world. The eagles in the U.S. are larger than the largest hawks. A female Bald Eagle can have a wingspan over 7 feet. The biggest hawks don't have a wingspan that large. Eagles in the U.S. and Canada mainly eat fish. Hawks eat many different types of prey, depending on the species. Red-tailed Hawks, for example, eat many kinds of live prey. However, Cooper's Hawks mostly eat other birds. They watch my bird feeder all the time. The appearance of Bald and Golden Eagles is very different from the hawks living in the same region. Of course, Bald Eagles have the white head that gives them away and they are always around water, looking for fish. Eagles are not seen in all the places hawks are found. I was deep in a forest far from water where I saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting birds. You won't see an eagle deep in a forest hunting birds. Also, eagles can't move quickly through a dense forest as some hawk species can. The closest place to my location where I can spot an eagle is a large wetland area close to the river. You won;t see an eagle sitting in your back yard as you do hawks, unless your yard borders a large aquatic area.
     There are too many things to mention for a complete answer to your question but those are a few. I suggest going online to learn more about the different species.

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