Sea Eagle
Description
The Sea Eagle is one of the largest raptors in Creation, with females weighing on average between 20 and 30lbs (some massive examples up to 100lbs), with males somewhat smaller at around 2/3rds that weight.
The Sea Eagle is dark brown to black over the majority of its body, with white on the shoulders, thighs and crown. They have wedge-shaped, white tails. The cleaner and brighter the white patches, the higher the rank of the individual in the social hierarchy of Sea Eagles. The eyes, the bill and the feet of adults are all yellow in coloration. Their bills are large and powerful, able to rip apart even the toughest of prey animals. Some sailors in the West hate them as should they impact a ships sails they will tear huge gashes with beak and claws to free themselves, wounds which are difficult for sailors to close.
In some ancient records the Sea Eagle is known as the Western Eagle.
Due to their well-known presence in Eagle Prefecture, some assume the eagle feather mon of House Sesus is the feather of a Sea Eagle, but they have no matching plumage… instead the mon depicts the tail feather of a Golden Eagle.
Habitat and Range
The Sea Eagle nests along sea coasts, on large, rocky outcroppings. They are known to range across the West, inhabiting small rocky islets and occasionally even ice flows in more northerly seas. The largest concentrations are found along the northwestern coastline of the Blessed Isle… their presence is the source of the name Eagle’s Launch and Eagle Prefecture, where one can find the highest concentrations.
Diet
The Sea Eagle mainly feeds on fish. Their favored prey is salmon and trout, caught close to the surface, normally in shallow coastal waters. Relatively large numbers of these normally solitary birds can be seen congregating on particularly productive spawning rivers due to an abundant food supply. In Eagle Prefecture, aggregations of as many as 700 eagles have been reported. When raising young, the parents will typically catch about 2 or 3 fish for the young to eat. In the period after spawning, dead fish may be consumed more often than live ones.
Non-piscivore prey is comprised largely of water-dwelling birds, including ducks, Geese, swans, cranes, herons, Albatross, and gulls. Among bird prey, a strong preference has been shown for Slaty-backed Gulls. The Sea Eagle may supplement its diet with various mammals, crabs, mussels and squid when given the opportunity. Carrion, especially that of mammals (such as deer), is readily eaten during the winter months, with the Eagles ranging further inland during this time. Sea Eagles also seek out fatty young seal pups and carry them off, managing to lift pups of weight almost equal to their own. These are dropped higher up on cliffs, where they can be torn and devoured at leisure. Often seals and sea lion of any size are eaten as carrion and, using the Eagle’s huge bill, may be dismembered where found rather than flown with.
Though not a common prey, Sea Eagles are of sufficient size to pick up human children, whom they carry to higher ground where they can dismember and devour them. There is a saying amongst the peasants of Eagle Prefecture that ‘a leek a day keeps the eagles away’, though there is little evidence that Sea Eagles are anything more than indifferent towards onions.
Most often, Sea Eagles hunt from a perch in a tree or rocky ledge located 6 to 33 yards above the water. When prey is spotted, the bird dives from its perch. Eagles may also hunt on the wing, while circling 5 to 10 yards above the water. Again, prey is captured by diving. Eagles sometimes hunt by standing in or near shallow water on a sandbank, spit, or ice-flow, grabbing passing fish. Where feeding occurs in groups, kleptoparasitism is common. Sometimes groups of Sea Eagles will be accompanied by Golden Eagles, White Eagles, or Snake Eagles … while they are generally indifferent and sometimes even cooperative, Sea Eagles will use their immense bulk to dominate and steal fish or chunks of carrion from the smaller eagles.
Reproduction
The Sea Eagle builds several aeries, being bulky constructions of twigs and sticks. They usually place such nests high up on rock cliffs at heights of 18 to 25 yards above the ground. Alternate nests are usually built within 1,000 yards of each other.
After courtship, which usually occurs between Resplendent Air and Ascending Water, the animals may build the nest and copulate on it. They lay their first white-green eggs between Descending Water and Resplendent Earth, clutches can contain from one to three eggs, with two being the average. Usually only one chick survives to adulthood. After an incubation period of around 39 – 45 days the chicks hatch, the helpless, whitish-down covered young are born. The eaglets fledge in Ascending Fire.
Eggs and very small nestlings can be preyed on by arboreal mammals (such as Marten and Tongma Monkeys), and birds (usually Strix or Raitons). Any of these smaller, clever nest predators rely on distraction and stealth to predate the eagle's nests and are killed if caught by either of the parents. Once it reaches roughly adult size in the fledging stage, few predators can threaten this species. In one case described in Shogunate military records, a brown bear was able to access a nest located on a rock formation and ate a fledging eaglet, though this is believed to be exceptional. Due primarily to egg predation and nest collapses, only 45–67% of eggs are successfully reared to adulthood and up to 25% of nestlings may be lost. However, once fully grown, the eagle has no natural predators within its range.
Cultural Significance
Sea Eagles are favoured by House Sesus, as a symbol of their ancestral dominion, with the largest concentration of Sea Eagles in Creation found in the rocks below the Eyrie of Ten Thousand Eagles. The Eagles are too large for falconry, but the birds are often ‘domesticated’ by Sesus estates who construct elevated feeding platforms on which they place game animals to be devoured, attracting Sea Eagles to take residence nearby. On rare occasions where some disaster has befallen parents, however, a few Sesii have been known to go to great lengths to recover and raise eggs and chicks. The powerful, imperious eagles accept subservience to no one, not even the Chosen of the Dragons, demanding an attitude of would-be-tamers found only rarely in the ranks of the Dynasty.
On the 20th Day of Ascending Wood, the Eyrie of Ten Thousand Eagles hosts the Fete of Fearsome Feathers, where Dynasts gather after a week of hunting challenging game nearby to toss their kills down the cliffs below the Eyrie, seeking to tempt the most eagles with their offering. The casting down of a live yeddim in RY722 kept the resident birds fed for months.
Eagles are also used to represent the rank of Governor in the mandarin squares of the Thousand Scales, with the Sea Eagle favoured by those affiliated with House Sesus.
