The bearded eagle

The zăgan or the bearded eagle (Gypætus barbatus), is a very rare species of eagle, considered to be extincted in Romania in 1929, 80 years ago. In April 2009, some hunters had identified a pair of bearded eagles in Mehedinţi County, near Topolniţa Cave.


The zăgan have habitats in the Alps, Crete, Pyrenées, Caucasus, Pamir, Altai, Tibet, Himalaya. It can live up to 50 years; although the female makes two eggs and cares them for 55 days, only one eaglet survives. The bearded eagle has a wingspan of 2.8 meters, plumage color is dark orange and dirty white, and under the beak has some black feathers, which look like a beard, from which it draws its name. It flies to an altitude of 4,000 meters on an area between 200 and 400 square kilometers, but returns each time in the place where it was grown.