Birding/eagles

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Expert: - 8/19/2007


Question
Is it true that eagles live 30 years and after that they have to suffer a painful transformation where they lose their peck, pull out their nails and feathers to renew themselves and after that they live 30 more years? There's a power point slide show on the Internet and they claim that they have taken the information from the Discovery channel.  I looked there, on encyclopedias and on the net and I haven't found any information. Can you help me, please?

Answer
While some eagles might live to be 30 years old, the rest of what you wrote is simply not true. I don't know where this information came from, but I'd like to see the PowerPoint you refer to. Can you tell me the site? This is some sort of folklore or myth; it has no basis in reality.

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Roger Lederer

Expertise

Any and all about WILD birds - the science of ornithology. Information about birdwatching, ecology, conservation, migration, behavior, banding, rehabilitation, feeding, songs, binoculars, identification, and careers in ornithology. No questions about pet or caged birds, please.

Experience

Have a PhD and over forty years as a professional ornithologist - research, teaching, author, speaker, webmaster of Ornithology.com . Have written thirty scientific papers, three bird field guides, a textbook in ecology and two recent books entitled "Amazing Birds" and "Birds of New England". Have traveled to over 90 countries watching birds.

Education/Credentials
PhD in Zoology/Ornithology; Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences; former Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at California State University, Chico

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