Eagles are majestic birds of prey, but unlike animals such as cattle or lions, they often prompt questions about gender-specific names. People wonder if distinct terms exist for male and female eagles.
Terminology for Adult Eagles
The straightforward answer to what a female eagle is called is simply “eagle.” Unlike many other animal species, there is no universally recognized, unique term for the adult female. Ornithologists and researchers typically refer to both sexes as eagles, or sometimes as a “male” or “female” eagle for clarity.
This lack of a distinct name is common among bird species where the male and female share nearly identical plumage, making them visually similar. In some specific or historical contexts, the term “formel” has occasionally been used to denote a female eagle or hawk. However, this word is not a standard part of modern birding or scientific language.
The young of these powerful raptors are known as eaglets or nestlings. This specific terminology is used until the young birds fledge and progress through their juvenile and subadult stages, where they are still referred to as eagles, despite their different plumage.
Identifying Male and Female Eagles
Since the sexes share the same name and look nearly identical, telling them apart in the wild requires close observation of subtle physical differences. The most reliable external difference is size, a characteristic known as reverse sexual size dimorphism, where the female is noticeably larger than the male. Female eagles can be 25% to 30% heavier than their male partners, with their wingspans often reaching up to eight feet, surpassing the male’s average span.
This size disparity means the female tends to have a larger hooked beak and a longer hallux, the specialized back talon used to secure prey. Biologists often rely on precise measurements of features like beak depth to definitively determine sex when handling the birds, as a difference of just a few millimeters can separate the sexes.
The female’s larger size is thought to be an evolutionary advantage that allows her to better protect the nest and eggs from predators, while the smaller, more agile male typically performs more of the hunting duties. However, simply observing a single bird’s size in the field is not a foolproof method, as size can overlap between a large male from a northern population and a smaller female from a southern one. Definitive sex identification often requires DNA testing or specific physical measurements taken by trained researchers.