2024Nature Protection - The Vihorlat Mountains & The Short-Toed Eagle (Circaetus Gallicus) - First Day Cover

The short-toed eagle is a strictly migratory raptor that passes the winter east of the Sahara in the central south-western Palaearctic region. It arrives in Slovakia between the end of March and the beginning of April and usually leaves our country in September. It lives in warm areas with broadleaved or mixed forests, it prefers pines, with small clearings, meadows and pastures. The wingspan of the short-toed eagle is 180 centimetres and it weighs between 1.5 and 2 kg. The female eagle is bigger than its male counterpart. The top of its body is dark brown, while the underside is mostly pale. Only the head, neck and breast are dark. Its wings are long, wide and include striking stretched out finger flight feathers. On its pale tail there are three dark stripes, the final one is wider. In comparison to adult birds, young eagles are darker and have more spots on their bodies.