The white-tailed eagle is a large-scale migratory bird of prey of the family Accipitridae, which is associated with the aquatic environment of Europe. In flight it can be recognized by its large rectangular wings, its short white wedge-shaped tail and its large yellow bill. It feeds mainly on fish by skimming the surface or wading in shallow water and it can attack water birds. It also eats mammals such as voles or foxes and is also a scavenger.
It has disappeared from most of the southern regions of Europe since the middle of the 20th century, especially from Corsica and Sardinia, due to the intensification of logging, hunting and pollution.
Its presence in Corsica is ancient since it is attested in deposits dating from the Pleistocene. Since the 1980s its numbers have increased in northern Europe, in some regions of France except in the countries around the Mediterranean. A few isolated eagles have even been observed in Corsica in 2000 and 2009.
This naturalized specimen kept by the Museum of Corsica was donated in 2011 by the son of an employee of the Casabianda penitentiary. The bird of prey had been killed accidentally on the estate during a hunt in September 1948.
Naturalized eagles from Corsica are absent from the major natural history museums, so the presence of this specimen in the museum’s collections is important for the conservation of Corsica’s ornithological heritage.
After a restoration the white-tailed eagle was presented in 2015 to the public in the temporary exhibition Island(s).
Eagle eagle naturalized
1950
209 x 157 x 112 cm
Inv.2012.8.1
