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Gigantic Eagle in WI? (1 Viewer)

M

manmountain8

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A few years ago my girlfriend and I were canoeing in the Willow River State Park in Western Wisconsin. From across the lake we noticed something large in a tree. We couldn't quite make it out but my first thought was that it was a bird because I could see the tips of the wings hanging down. We began paddling towards it and as we got closer we began to question whether or not it could possibly be a bird. It simply looked too large to be a bird. I thought it was a big nest that had begun to fall apart or something like that hanging in the tree. Then we got close enough to spook it and it raised it's head which had been tucked away and spread it's wings. I was absolutely shocked at the size of it. It was all one color, dark brown, and it looked like it could have been a Golden Eagle. Now I realize that perception can be misleading and it's difficult to judge size from a distance, but I made a visual mark on the tree from it's feet to the tip of it's head and then went right up next to the tree after it had flown away. I did the same thing for the wingspan as it spread it's wings next to some protruding branches. My best guess is that this bird stood 5 feet tall and had a wingspan of over 10 feet. I do realize how ridiculous that sounds. Go ahead and call me crazy, or just assume that I'm over estimating the size, but I know what I saw. When it flew away the wings flapped like nothing I have ever seen or heard. They flapped unbelievably slow an powerfully and made a very loud swooshing noise. Each flap of it's wings took 5 seconds to complete and it sounded like someone was blowing as hard as they could right in my ear. It was truly a wonder to behold and anyone else who had been there would have said the same thing. I have seen many large Golden Eagles before and they didn't even come close to comparing to this. It looked to be almost twice the size of the largest Golden Eagle possible. I do not believe that an Eagle could ever get that large and I don't believe it was an Eagle. I had considered a Condor, but a Condor in WI? No way! The head was clearly brown as well, and even Condors don't get that big. The beak was hard to make out, but I think it was straighter and darker than a typical Eagle. Also, the Golden Eagles that I have seen had patches of golden or amber colors. This bird was a very dark brown throughout with no patchiness. It even looked black from a distance. Anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone else has ever seen anything like this? What could it have been? Can an Eagle get that big? What is your best explanation for what we saw? If there is anyone out there investigating extraordinarily large bird sightings, my girlfriend and I would like to give an official statement.
 
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Thanks, I've learned a lot looking up all those eagles. The only Eagle that was that size was the Haast Eagle which only lived in New Zealand and went extinct over 600 years ago.

The only living Eagle that it could be is a Golden Eagle. I always thought that the largest wingspan of a Golden Eagle was 7 ft but I have now read that they can be up to 8 feet. That's getting pretty close. This might explain it...

Adult Golden Eagles range considerably in size. Though some subspecies are among the largest eagles of the genus Aquila. Most subspecies of Golden Eagle vary in the range from 65 to 100 cm (26–40 in), wingspan can range from 150 to 240 cm (60–96 in), and weight is from 2.5 to 7 kg (5.5–15.5 lb). However, wild specimens of the largest subspecies in North America have been observed to be somewhat larger than that description, as the largest recorded weighed 9kg (20 lbs) and had a body length of 102 cm (40.1 in)

I am beginning to think that it could have been a very large Golden Eagle, but I am still convinced it was bigger than that. Maybe what we saw was the biggest Golden Eagle ever. How friggin cool is that!
 
Two possibilities.

One, you saw something previously unknown to science.
Two, you saw a large bird, possibly a Golden eagle and, in the the excitement of the moment, you over-estimated its size.

I wasn't there, but if you had to attach probabilities to these two explanations, which would come out as most likely?

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Mike
 
bitterntwisted said:
Agree on Giant Raven. The only possible explanation.

Graham
Click to expand...

I believe these giant eagles are fairly common breeders around Real de Catorce in Mexico. Don't know about the ravens you mention though. The subject bird could possibly be a vagrant that flew north, definitely could be, but who can be 100% sure about the origin and whereabouts of a single bird without satellite tracking? I reckon it is (almost?) impossible but maybe some more educated BF members think otherwise. Some good info here:

http://www.realdecatorce.net/homeng

Cheers

Eduardo
 
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Motmot said:
I believe these giant eagles are fairly common breeders around Real de Catorce in Mexico. Don't know about the ravens you mention though. The subject bird could possibly be a vagrant that flew north, definitely could be, but who can be 100% sure about the origin and whereabouts of a single bird without satellite tracking? I reckon it is (almost?) impossible but maybe some more educated BF members think otherwise. Some good info here:

http://www.realdecatorce.net/homeng[/url]

Cheers

Eduardo
Click to expand...

Well, there are a number of Bald Eagles that nest in the park. There is a deep 200 ft Gorge there which is perfect habitat for Golden Eagles so I don't doubt it's origin, I'm just shocked at the size of it. I admit that it is possible that it looked bigger than it was. If the largest Golden Eagle recorded was 3 1/2 feet tall with an 8 foot wingspan, then this one was on par with that. Does a 4 ft tall Golden Eagle with a 9 ft wingspan seem unreasonable? The guys talking about giant Ravens are just a couple of jokesters. Don't pay them any attention. Giant Ravens are no bigger than a small dog. Here is the park where I saw it... it was about where the Willow river starts becoming Little Falls Lake and the bird flew upstream towards the Willow River Falls and Gorge.

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_River_State_Park

http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=WISPWR&CU_ID=1
 
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Apodemus said:
Two possibilities.

One, you saw something previously unknown to science.
Two, you saw a large bird, possibly a Golden eagle and, in the the excitement of the moment, you over-estimated its size.

I wasn't there, but if you had to attach probabilities to these two explanations, which would come out as most likely?

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Mike
Click to expand...

I think that I saw one of the largest Golden Eagles ever. Even though we probably over estimated the size, it still had to be one of the biggest Eagles ever witnessed.
 
I don't think you read far enough in the article. Here is some more info from the Fortean Times

"Apart from sighting reports of the Thunderbird of Native American lore, the Jersey Devil, Mothman – and conventional-looking giant birds, such as those seen in Alaska in 2002 [FT166:6] – some modern reports of giant winged creatures in the US do sound like pterosaurs; and there are reports of flying sharp-toothed lizards with bat-like wings from many parts of Africa.


Following the 1975 discovery of a fossilised pterosaur skeleton with a wingspan of 51ft (15.5m) in Big Bend National Park, Texas, there was a run of sighting reports across Texas – although “big bird” sightings had been occurring in the state for at least 30 years. Witnesses in the early months of 1976 described enormous winged creatures with bat-like wings and a face like a cat’s. For example: on 24 February, three elementary schoolteachers, driving to work in San Antonio, saw a huge “bird” with a wingspan of 15–20ft (4.6–6m) or more swoop over their cars, no higher than a telephone line. “I could see the skeleton of this bird through the skin or feathers or whatever,” said Patricia Bryant, “and it stood out black against the background of the grey feathers.” David Rendon added that the creature glided rather than flew and that the huge wings had a bony structure. Later they found the “bird” illustrated in an encyclopædia, where it was captioned “pteranodon”.


Ken Gerhard, a cryptozoologist from San Antonio, Texas, who has written a book on giant winged creatures, suggests that some of them could be Argentinean pteratorns, (Argentavis magnificens), giant birds of prey with wingspans of over 25ft (7.6m), which survived much more recently than pterosaurs. “These are the surviving ancestors of modern condors and vultures,” he said. “They lived up to 6,000 years ago, we know for sure, in parts of North America. In fact, over 100 specimens have been recovered from the La Brea tar pits in California.” San Antonio (TX) Express, 28 July 2007. "
 
Roc possibly?
I doubt it was as large as you say it was, but i dont think you are lying. When i first saw a white tailed eagle in scotland, i assumed it was bigger than it was. The Eagle with an 8 foot wingspan was an extreme variant. Some birders have been known to mistake Swallows for Buzzards and Kites, as it is an easy mistake to make. You may have over estimated the size, but the species could be Golden.

DG
 
It was definately a Golden Eagle. The only reason I though it wasn't an Eagle was because of the size. After doing a little research I have discovered that they can get quite a bit bigger than I thought. An 8 foot wing span could easily look like 10 and a 3 1/2 foot tall bird could look like 5. Perhaps it was even bigger than that, it is possible. I consider myself lucky to have seen something as rare and awesome as that.
 
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