Eagle Hunting Journey is an action-packed adventure in which you will take on the role of an eagle who will have to survive in the wilderness while looking for food and other valuable resources. It's an exciting survival game in which you will have to face different kinds of predators, including other birds of prey, dangerous predators such as wild animals, and even vicious predators such as sharks and crocodiles.
"Typically an eagle will perch near some waterfowl concentration. (The more concentrated and restrictedby ice, the better.) It will take periodic 'strafing' runs over the waterfowl. I think this is in an attempt toidentify the weaker individuals--just as Emily and the MN students said! The others scurry and disperse. I'veseen adults do this over a period of an hour or more, over the same flock. Eventually, out one of the birds becomesexhausted from repeated dives, drowns and floats to the surface."
These are not "dive-bombing fast runs, simply methodical fly overs to disperse the flock. I've seen adultsdo this over a period of an hour or more, over the same flock, eventually tiring out one of the birds from repeateddives, who drowns and floats to the surface. The eagle then patiently but methodically grabbed the bird from thewater, dragged it to the edge of the ice and ate it. They will also take a bird who ultimately moves too slowlyafter they've tired them out. So, the individuals they ultimately prey on, are indeed the weaker ones of the flock;a natural selection process in the works ! Some of the waterfowl concentrations are in fairly small, restrictedareas of small rivers or iced-in reservoirs; I think this helps the eagles. We should remember though, that thereare many wintering areas where both waterfowl and eagles co-occur, and in these situations, fish win out everytime; definitely the preferred prey.
Q. What percent of eagles' food is fish? Waterfowl?
A. This depends on the wintering area, and thus the prey available. In NY, within our largest wintering area inSoutheastern NY, fish makes up over 90 % of the eagles' diet. At one of our smaller areas along the Hudson Rivernorth of Albany, waterfowl makes up more than 75% of their diet, while on the Hudson south of Albany, it's backto fish.
How deep under water are the fish that eagles typically catch?
Q.How deep can they see the fish? (Would they be visible to the human eye, if we could hover above the water theway they can?)
Q. Does windy/stormy weather ever seem to make fishing impossible? How much affect does the wind have on water,and does wave action affect visibility?
A. I suspect that eagles can see fish much deeper than they actually ever attempt to catch them. They are muchmore of a surface fish catcher/eater than going after anything very deep (as an osprey will). I think they don'tfish anything deeper than one foot, and in most cases probably 6 inches or less. They also frequently take floatingdying or dead fish, likely much more than we realize, unless there is an abundance of near-surface fish prey available. They are much more of a surface "snatcher" than a diver like the osprey. I think most of the fish theysee, we could easily see from the air as well. Wind on water definitely affects visibility, which does affectfishing, making it more difficult to "see" fish down in the water. This is a particular problem forospreys (fish-hawks), who sometimes cannot successfully feed at all on high-wind days. Bald eagles, however, usethe wind to their advantage. As we all know, and as I just mentioned, eagles are also big-time scavengers; nottoo proud to take dead or dying items ! So, during windy days, they position themselves on a good perch on thedownwind shore, and simply wait for the wind to float a dead fish their way. Pretty smart, eh ?
Q. Any idea how much more food an eagle might need to eat in the winter when it's cold, compared to the summer?
A. I don't know exactly how much more food eagles need in winter (although there have been some energetic studiesdone to determine some of this), but like you and me, they require more in the winter than in summer, simply tokeep their body temperature up. That is why, in winter, eagles are masters at energy conservation. Especiallyduring harsh weather, they use as little energy as possible, perching, nearly motionless, for hours on end. Studieshave shown that as much as 90% or more of a typical eagles' day can be spent perching, loafing and roosting; non-movementactivities designed to conserve energy. On mild days, this is obviously less of a concern.
Play Eagle Hunting Journey, survive the day, and soar through the skies. If you are a fan of animal simulator games, our game is made just for you. You can experience the thrill of being a real eagle in the wild - hunt prey in order to survive, raise a family and take care of your young ones.
For centuries, ethnically Kazakh nomads have captured golden eagles at birth and tapped into their maternal food-gathering instincts in order to train them to hunt foxes, wolves and other animals. This tradition has gained worldwide attention through teenager Aisholpan, the subject of the 2016 documentary, The Eagle Huntress.
The Altai Eagle Festival, held annually in Mongolia's Altai Mountains on the third weekend of September, is an ideal opportunity to explore eagle hunting. Dozens of eagle hunters gather at the festival to compete and show their birds. Since 2018, Blue Silk Travel has been a proud festival sponsor.
The Altai mountains are very special as it is the home of an incredibly hospitable, colorful, strong and welcoming culture. About 90% is of Kazakh origin and it is this area where the traditional art of eagle hunting is still practiced. You can find men on their horses, 6 kilos of eagle on the arm, trotting and galloping across steep slopes, in search of marmots, foxes, and sometimes wolves. When spotted, the eagle hunters split up, surround the animal, pull the hat off the eagles head and let them fly to go and catch the prey. Their skins are used to make warm cloths and blankets to survive the harsh cold winters, which reach temperatures down to -40 degrees Celsius.
Mr. Dalaikhan helped us acquire ouranimals and a month after arriving in Mongolia we took off for a long journeyfull of adventures. We were prepared not to see any towns for the duration offour months, so we stocked up on dried fruit and nuts, oatmeal, dried meat, flourand rice. We counted on buying dairy and fresh meat from the nomads.Unexpectedly we fell in love with the fermented mares milk and took everyopportunity to attain some of it.
I started to enjoy the mixed smell of camel, dog and campfire. We washed ourselves and our cloths in the rivers and lakes which were, in contrast to the rest of Mongolia, usually abundant in the Altai mountains. By the end of my journey I had to break through the ice to find drinking water, resulting in me not caring too much about personal hygiene, dreaming about the hot showers in the bathhouse of Ulgii town. The nomads wash their face and hands regularly but shower occasionally in a tub of warm water. Toilets are non-existent; sometimes there is a whole in the ground. In September the wood on top of the whole was slippery from frost and it was an adventure in itself to use the bathroom.
We started our journey in the southern section of the west region of the Altai mountains, bordering China, and traversed the Tavan Bogd National Park up all the way to the Northwest corner of Mongolia, where the highest peaks are.
We were glad to give the animals a few days of rest after starting off our journey with a bit of a struggle: the horses and camels were not used to each other or to us and it took some time to get to know them and understand how to work as a team. We learned all sorts of tricks to make the camels stand or sit, walk through rivers and over mountains, to teach the dogs how to cross rivers and the horses to not be scared of our family members or the noises the packs make when walking. But we made it work and together we conquered steep high mountain passes, swamps, rivers and deserts.
We had never met before but he recognized me from a tiny polaroid picture I had left behind. Alpamys, his wife and his children took me in as part of the family. I helped them with daily chores where I could. On good days, Alpamys lent me his own eagle and we would go up in the mountains eagle hunting until it was time to go to the eagle festival in Olgi town at the first weekend of October.
The last leg of my journey wasriding, with the eagle hunters, back to Altai town where I would finally set myanimals free and leave them in good hands as I had to make my way home. My visahad run out.
Many Kazakh hunters and their families travel hundreds of miles to compete in the Golden Eagle Festival. This hunter joins us in camp and shows us his eagle. Female eagles are preferred because they are larger, generally three pounds heavier than their male counterparts, and better hunters.
At the festival grounds, 114 hunters wearing traditional clothing parade on horseback. Hunters rest their forearms on baldaks (forked wooden sticks fitted into their saddles) to support their weighty eagles. All competitors line up in front of the judges.
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Now there are more than 400 eagle hunters in the Altai region, the best of whom arrive each to year on the first weekend of October to compete in the competition near Ulgii, the province center. As of last year, 120 eagle hunters participated. The once-in-a-lifetime two-day festival celebrates age-old tradition yet without harming any animals.
On the first day, the Golden Eagle Festival starts with a parade of all the participating eagle hunters, who are judged on their horse tackle, and on their outfits of hand-worked leather and colorful fox fur and wool.
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