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Difference Between Eagles & Hawks

In many ways, hawks and eagles are very much alike. Both are members of the hooked-bill Accipitridae family, are largely diurnal (active during daylight hours), eat a meat-based diet and participate in similar flight patterns. However, there are a handful of differences that cause the two species to stand apart.

Size
- Eagles are generally larger than hawks, with some species weighing up to 18 lbs. In fact, large-to-medium-sized hawks, which can weigh up to 8 lbs., are usually about the size of some of the smallest eagle species.
Diet
- While all birds of prey (or "raptors") are carnivores, eagles are far more likely than hawks to scavenge (consume dead animals), and because of a predisposition toward coastal habitats, are far more likely to make fish and other marine life a staple of their diets. What's more, because of their size, eagles can take down far larger prey than hawks, with some golden eagles attacking and killing prey as large as pronghorn antelope.
Calls
- The sounds of most large and medium-sized hawks are far more compelling than that of most large eagles. While many believe eagles to be the birds of prey that "scream" or caw over the landscape, their calls are actually far more subtle, not unlike the abrasive, screeching noises one hears when a rubber shoe moves across a gym floor. Oddly enough, the soaring, high-pitched calling sound effect used in many films to identify an eagle is actually, most often, the call of a red-tailed or chicken hawk.
Feet
- Because eagles might have to carry significantly heavier prey than their hawk counterparts, their feet are often much stronger and shaped slightly differently than those of hawks. While much of a hawk's manual force is placed in the forward section of the bird's talons, many eagles, like the golden variety, have particularly powerful, sharp hind talons that help them to hang on to large prey as it is carried through the air.

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