Any info or images on Birds of Prey...

I'll go first with my National Bird,
Bald Eagle
      

• Size & ShapeThe Bald Eagle dwarfs most other raptors, including the Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk. It has a heavy body, large head, and long, hooked bill. In flight, a Bald Eagle holds its broad wings flat like a board.
• Color PatternAdult Bald Eagles have white heads and tails with dark brown bodies and wings. Their legs and bills are bright yellow. Immature birds have mostly dark heads and tails; their brown wings and bodies are mottled with white in varying amounts. Young birds attain adult plumage in about five years.
• BehaviorYou'll find Bald Eagles soaring high in the sky, flapping low over treetops with slow wingbeats, or perched in trees or on the ground. Bald Eagles scavenge many meals by harassing other birds or by eating carrion or garbage. They eat mainly fish, but also hunt mammals, gulls, and waterfowl.
• HabitatLook for Bald Eagles near lakes, reservoirs, rivers, marshes, and coasts. For a chance to see large Bald Eagle congregations, check out wildlife refuges or large bodies of water in winter over much of the continent, or fish processing plants and dumpsters year-round in coastal Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
  

The bald eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists mainly on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species, up to 4 m (13 ft) deep, 2.5 m (8.2 ft) wide, and 1 metric ton (1.1 short tons) in weight.[sup][2][/sup] Sexual maturity is attained at the age of four to five years.

The bald eagle has sometimes been considered the largest true raptor (accipitrid) in North America. The only larger species of raptor-like bird is the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), a New World vulture which today is not generally considered a taxonomic ally of true accipitrids.[sup][7][/sup] However, the golden eagle, averaging 4.18 kg (9.2 lb) and 63 cm (25 in) in wing chord length in its American race (A. c. canadensis), is merely 455 g (1.003 lb) lighter in mean body mass and exceeds the bald eagle in mean wing chord length by around 3 cm (1.2 in).[sup][5][/sup][sup][8][/sup] Additionally, the bald eagle's close cousins, the relatively longer-winged but shorter-tailed white-tailed eagle and the overall larger Steller's sea eagle (H. pelagicus), may, rarely, wander to coastal Alaska from Asia.[sup][5][/sup]The bald eagle has a body length of 70–102 cm (28–40 in). Typical wingspan is between 1.8 and 2.3 m (5.9 and 7.5 ft) and mass is normally between 3 and 6.3 kg (6.6 and 13.9 lb).[sup][5][/sup] Females are about 25% larger than males, averaging 5.6 kg (12 lb), and against the males' average weight of 4.1 kg (9.0 lb).[sup][2][/sup][sup][9][/sup][sup][10][/sup][sup][11][/sup] The size of the bird varies by location and generally corresponds with Bergmann's rule, since the species increases in size further away from the Equator and the tropics. The smallest specimens are those from Florida, where mature males may weigh as little as 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) and have a wingspan of 1.68 m (5.5 ft)[sup][citation needed][/sup]. Similarly small, eagles from South Carolina average 3.27 kg (7.2 lb) in mass and 1.88 m (6.2 ft) in wingspan.[sup][12][/sup] The largest eagles are from Alaska, where large females may weigh up to 7.5 kg (17 lb) and span 2.44 m (8.0 ft) across the wings.[sup][4][/sup][sup][13][/sup] A survey of adult weights in Alaska showed that females weighed on average 6.3 kg (14 lb) and males weighed 4.3 kg (9.5 lb).[sup][14][/sup] Among standard linear measurements, the wing chord is 51.5–69 cm (20.3–27.2 in), the tail is 23–37 cm (9.1–14.6 in) long, and the tarsus is 8 to 11 cm (3.1 to 4.3 in).[sup][5][/sup][sup][15][/sup] The culmen reportedly ranges from 3 to 7.5 cm (1.2 to 3.0 in), while the measurement from the gape to the tip of the bill is 7–9 cm (2.8–3.5 in).[sup][15][/sup][sup][16][/sup]The call consists of weak staccato, chirping whistles, kleek kik ik ik ik, somewhat similar in cadence to a gull's call. The calls of young birds tend to be more harsh and shrill than those of adults.[sup][5][/sup][sup][6][/sup]










Bald Eagle vs Golden Eagle



 
 
 

Note: This tutorial is updated on 23-oct-2015 for new editor

In this tutorial we are teaching showing how to embed (insert) videos on this forum from YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, LiveLeak, Metacafe, dailymotion and Veoh. Currently we support only videos of these websites.

1. Click on the icon at the top of the Text Editor as shown in the below image.




2. Now an inline popup will appear. It will have a select box for Video Type and a text box to enter video link (url) as shown in below image




3. Follow these step and see the image below.
  a). Select your video source (Video Type) from select box (Click on it and then click again to select), the available video source website are:- Dailymotion, Facebook, LiveLeak, MetaCafe, Veoh, Vimeo and Youtube. In this example I have selected Youtube as shown in below image STEP 1
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  c). In final STEP 3, click on the "Insert" button as shown in below image. It will insert the video in place where you were typing.





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6. Click on "Preview Post" If you want to see post before final posting OR click on "Post Reply" to finally submit your reply or thread.

This is how you will embed or insert videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, LiveLeak, Metacafe, dailymotion and Veoh.

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Also you can directly embed video from source website by writing the code directly inside the text editor as shown below.

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Hope this help forum member to embed video in their posts. If you have any doubt or query just ask below.

Regards
Sanjay

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Tagged members:
@Djumafan @Spotted @wilderness

You might find this interesting - http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/c997d...4c7bf6.htm  
 

A pretty damn cool lizard, don't ya think? Not much info available as far as official weight charts go,
but hey, they're the big boys of the lizard world. I believe the heaviest was 360lb's +. Truth be told,
these gluttons can eat a shiite load at one sitting (80% of their body weight). Thats more than my
mother in law! 
 

Want some feedback on this. Truthfully, I would love to raise a pet lion or tiger cub 
some day. Kind of torn on the moral issue though. It won't be till later in life, if ever
Seeing the friendship some trainers and keepers have with these animals makes me
yearn to experience it. I enjoy the the thought of it. 
 

Just read a 103 yr old Orca affectionately nicknamed "Granny" was spotted off the
coast of Western Canada. Sea world claims orcas can live up to 20 yrs and most die
within  4-5 yrs in captivity. As a result of this sighting, conservationists are calling for
the release of all captive orcas for obvious reasons. Wild orcas can swim long distances
on a daily basis, thus providing the necessary exercise to remain vibrant and healthy,
leading to longevity not found in confined, captive specimens. I agee 100%   

This is amazing story when a male and female tiger and tigress have to back up from a fierce mother(sloth bear). This is incident on April 2011 When one of our most famous wildlife photographer Dicky Singh from India capture all the moments in his camera. Dicky Singh is very respectable wildlife photographer and wildfact community truly appreciate his work.


--------------------- Story: ---------------------------
9th April 2011. In the morning safari some jeeps saw a pair of tigers walking from Ranthambhore national park towards the Kalapani anicut in the Kundaal valley at the edge of the national park. In the evening we found the mating tigers (T24 male and T39 female – both young adults) in a rocky plateau across the Kalapani anicut.
 
 

The plateau had a short grass cover and some low trees. The sun was behind the tigers and the back light was very strong. Most of the time the tigers were in the shade and were no good for photography. After about half an hour the tigress suddenly got up and started stalking towards the edge of the plateau. 



 A mother bear with two small cubs riding on her back was walking towards the mating pair of tigers and the tigress had gone to confront them. By the time the bear realized that there were tigers close by, the tigress had got very close to them. That’s when the mother became aware of the tiger’s presence. 

 

The bear appeared to be in serious trouble and we expected the bear to bolt away but the bear had other plans. The bear cubs flattened themselves on the mother’s back while the mother charged at the approaching tigress. 

 

I don’t think that the tigress expected the bear to charge and tried to get out of what was by now a messy situation for both of them. The bear blocked the tiger’s path and stood up on her hind legs to confront the tigress. By this time the tigress desperately wanted to get out of the confrontation and kept backing off. T 39 in a young tigress who probably did not have the experience to take on a desperate mother. 

 

The bear started screaming loudly and got increasingly aggressive. Soon there was a loud slanging match between the two, which the bear won. The tigress beat a hasty retreat while the bear stood her ground. 

 

By this time the male tiger who was observing the drama from a little distance decided to get involved. T 24 is about 4 years old and had just come into dominance. We were worried for the bear. 

 

We had seriously underestimated the power of an angry mother. T 24, the young male star of southern Ranthambhore, could not even budge the bear. These two had another loud slanging match that went in the bear’s favour. 

 

T 24 soon realized the fury of an angry mother and started backing away from a now “one sided” fight and did not stop till he reached a safe distance. 

 

All this happened in exactly two minutes and 10 seconds. When the clock started it seemed that the mother bear had got herself into a very dangerous spot. In ten seconds she had taken control and two minutes later she had forced two tigers to back off. The victor walked off leaving behind two sheepish cats. 

 

Pardon the large watermarks but these pictures have been downloaded and used by far too many people / agencies without any credit.
--------------------- End of story ---------------------------

This show how a desperate mother can go to any limit to protect her cubs.
All copyright and credit belong to Aditya Dicky Singh. here is his blog http://www.dickysingh.com/

Please make sure you post videos only and not pics.
I personally think videos gives a better idea on tiger sizes than pics.
There is far less problems with the angles.

I have read conflicting stories about how Konda actually died.
I have heard(read) from a couple of people that Konda was killed by Munna and Copters has told me he was killed by his two sons after he was injured.

Hear is what Tigers of Kahna had to say
"That guy (doesn't matter who he is talking about) has put in total Garbage such as: Konda was the biggest tiger in Kanha, and had his paw not been cut off, he wouldn't have died from an attack by his 2 sons, K1 and K2, or Munna is much smaller than Konda and K2, and he just took advantage of K2 and Konda's death to rule the meadows, Naak Kata and Pattewala male are way bigger than Munna, Wagdoh is the biggest tiger in Central India....The shit goes on, and is too long to mention them all here. Truth is, Konda was a small tiger of Kisli range, not in Kanha meadows, that was in fine health and right in his prime when he was slaughtered by Munna, a much bigger male in Jan 2008. The fight was completely one-sided, with Munna suffering not a visible scratch. K1 and K2 are makebelief names given to the link 7 bros, sons of Banda, not Konda. And one of them, the one called K2 by (doesn't matter), was believed to be killed by Munna in march 2009. "


Here is what is said on Konda's biography
Name               : Konda
Location           : Kanha National Park
Year of Birth    : 2001
Ancestry           : Son of Old Mukki male and Kitra Kudri female
Status               : RIP
Sex                   : Male
Species             : panthera tigris tigris


Konda was one of the biggest tiger at Kanha who could bring down with ease a one ton bison. He was master of a large territory of the reserve and slated to rule for a long time. No other tiger could match Konda's hunting prowess nor his power and strength. In his prime he sired many cubs.

He could have disseminated more of his prime genes had not tragedy befallen upon him. In spite of being the best managed park in India, Kanha National Park is subjected to poaching incidence now an then. This time the victim was Konda who was trapped in a poacher's snare and injured. The snare damaged his paw but not so much that he could not hunt.

In the meantime two males probably sired by him had reached adulthood and separated from their mother, hence were keeping together for some time as young male tigers often do. They hunted together successfully and grew stronger. Konda's presence in the area was not a welcome sign for the pair as he was a strong adversary and could come in their way of carving out their own respective territories. Tigers live a solitary life.

Eventually a territorial fight ensued with Konda alone in against the young but matured pair. The pair could have been no match for Konda but the injury took his toll and he was killed in a fierce fighting that terrified the forest guards in jungle camp nearby.

What is unfortunate is that territorial fights not always lead to the death of the adversary as there is plenty of room to run away before a deadly injury results fro





Is there anybody else who has other knowledge on this?

 

 

Starting an online video business of tigers, please contact ASAP for more information.

You will be making a percentage of the proceeds.

We will have all rights to the videos, by permission or paid rights.

Requirements:
1) Knowledge on Tigers
2) Ability to upload MP4 (or other video files)
3) Email or Skype to chat on this.

Please PM me if interested, thanks.