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Any large, rapacious bird of the Falcon family, esp. of the
genera Aquila and Haliaeetus. The eagle is remarkable for strength,
size, graceful figure, keenness of vision, and extraordinary flight.
The most noted species are the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetus); the
imperial eagle of Europe (A. mogilnik / imperialis); the American bald
eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus); the European sea eagle (H.
albicilla); and the great harpy eagle (Thrasaetus harpyia). The figure
of the eagle, as the king of birds, is commonly used as an heraldic
emblem, and also for standards and emblematic devices. See Bald eagle,
Harpy, and Golden eagle. |