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The stongest Talons? (2 Viewers)

My suggestion of the two eagles are i think in the right department of fish eagles, just as the pure weight of a 20lb salmon being constantly hauled out must take tramendous strength and grip.

Maybe somebody can find out! . :eek!:
 
Harpy eagle?

Last week I played with captive Steller's sea eagle. Strange, it was unable to pierce or crush the PET mineral water bottle.

But eagle stabs with claws rather than hammers.
 
I don't know which has the hardest grip, but when you have had Great Grey Shrike and Little Owl sink their talons into your stomach while handling them, it ain't funny.

Ringing a Sparrowhawk was one of the scariest things I have ever attempted, but I lived to tell the tale.
 
jurek said:
Harpy eagle?

Last week I played with captive Steller's sea eagle. Strange, it was unable to pierce or crush the PET mineral water bottle.

But eagle stabs with claws rather than hammers.

That's not quite as surprising as it sounds- Steller's are huge but I don't think they tackle prey of a matching size and their feet don't match up to their monster bill- which I think is principally designed for display when they are establishing dominance on wintering grounds.
 
There is an eagle i saw recently in David Attenboroughs Life of Mammals when he did the Eagles section.

There was one that carried off a Raindeer!!! It may have been the phillipine eagle as mentioned . Now that is a set of Grappling irons!!
 
I think you're quite right mentioning harpy eagle because as far as I know it's one of the largest raptors, if not even the largest, and it has got the longest talons
I hope I'm informed correctly, else please correct me for I always want to learn news concerning birds
 
Harpys kill adult Howler and Spider Monkies, up to 8 kg,the biggest in the Americas, and they have to kill them in seconds, crushing the skulls before the very strong monkey can defend himself. I´ve seen them in captivity in Panama, very close views of those female monstrous talons... They can´t be beaten!
 
"Anyone know the crush rate of the Bird with the strongest talons?"

Depends on which concept you are looking at. Eagles can loose their prey due to the structure of their talons. Ospreys can rotate one of their front toes (one each foot) so that fish prey cannot escape, unlike Eagles with fish prey.
It all depends on differing circumstances.

Regards

Malky

Just for further info about birds feet :-

http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdfeet.html
 
According to the canadian raptor conservancy the great horned owl is the most powerful bird of prey pound for pound. IM SHOCKED none of you even suggested it since a lot of you seem to know so much :p
 
"According to the Canadian raptor conservancy the great horned owl is the most powerful bird of prey pound for pound. IM SHOCKED none of you even suggested it since a lot of you seem to know so much"

Why be shocked. As I said before, it depends on the context in which the information is supplied and used.

"A Great Horned Owl may take prey 2 to 3 times heavier than itself."

It does not state that the G/H Owl actually can fly off with this prey, carrying this weight.

The wild animal known to have been killed and carried away by a bird was a 15 pound male red howler monkey killed by a Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) in Manu National Park, Peru in 1990. The Harpy Eagle is considered the world’s most powerful bird of prey, although it weighs only 20 pounds.


The consensus for the worlds strongest bird of prey is the Harpy, due to the fact that the above incident was witnessed. I have seen Ospreys killing fish 3 times + their weight, but the birds can do nothing with them except drag them to the shore. Then they are set about by every other bird there, due to their natural status. The Osprey killed the fish, but that was it. I have recovered Sea Trout killed by Ospreys on the Ythan, just to weigh them for comparative studies. (Ate them, the Sea Trout, that is, afterwards) As someone on this forum stated before to one of our younger members, the same data can be manipulated to form several opinions.

Regards

Malky
 
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