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Anyone under 30 may find it hard to believe that red kites<\/a> \u2013 reintroduced to England in the 1990s and now so common over Reading and the M40 and M4 corridor that people barely give them a second glance \u2013 were once about to disappear from Britain.<\/p>\n Could white-tailed eagles, reintroduced to Scotland in the 1980s and recently returned to the Isle of Wight after a 240-year absence in England, soar to equally spectacular heights?<\/p>\n \u201cWhy not?\u201d says Tim Mackrill, a quietly confident raptor specialist who works for the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation<\/a>. \u201cThese birds belong here, cheek by jowl, right among us.\u201d<\/p>\n Together with Forestry England<\/a>, the foundation is leading an ambitious project to repopulate southern England with the huge eagles \u2013 Europe\u2019s largest, with a wingspan of up to 2.4m. Also known as sea eagles, their nickname with birders is \u2018flying barn doors.\u2019<\/p>\n The scientific name of the white-tailed eagle is Haliaeetus albicilla<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Haliaeetus <\/em>genus consists of ten extant (living) species of eagle, including the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus<\/i>) and the Stellar\u2019s sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus<\/i>).<\/p>\n The white-tailed eagle is the UK\u2019s and Europe\u2019s largest bird of prey, with a length between 70-90cm, and a wingspan between 200-240cm.<\/p>\n Adult males can weight between 3.5-5kg, and females between 4-7kg.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> A 2020 estimate put the number of breeding pairs at 150. This does not include juveniles and non-breeding adults.<\/p>\n Population growth models suggest that there could be over 200 breeding pairs by 2025.<\/p>\n Please note that external videos may contain ads:<\/em><\/p>\nWhat is the scientific name of the white-tailed eagle?<\/h2>\n
How big are white-tailed eagles?<\/h2>\n
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How many white-tailed eagles are there in the UK?<\/h2>\n