Aquila

Aquila, in the Bible

Aquila (ăk`wĭlə, əkwĭl`ə), in the New Testament, Christian of Jewish origin from Pontus who lived at Rome. He and his wife, Prisca or Priscilla, were friendly to Paul.

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Aquila, in astronomy

Aquila [Lat.,=the eagle], equatorial constellation located N of Sagittarius and Capricornus, lying partly in the Milky Way. It is sometimes depicted as an eagle. It contains the bright star Altair (Alpha Aquilae) and the pulsating variable star Eta Aquilae. The brightest nova ever seen occurred in Aquila in 1918. Other novas were observed in Aquila in 389 and 1899; two were observed there in 1936. Aquila reaches its highest point in the evening sky in late August.

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Aquila [′ak·wə·lə]

(astronomy)

A constellation with a right ascension of 20 hours and declination of 5°N. Abbreviated Aqil; Aql.

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aquila

A tympanum decorated with carvings.

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Aquila 

(eagles), a genus of predatory birds of the family Falconiformes. The broad and long wings have a span of 2–2.4 m. The birds weigh up to 6 kg. The tarsometatarsus is feathered to the digits, and the talons are highly developed. Males and females have the same coloration.

There are nine species, distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, from the forest-tundra zone to the deserts and mountains. Eagles apparently mate for life. They build nests in trees, on cliffs, or on the ground. A clutch is one to three eggs, which are incubated by the male and the female for 40 to 45 days. The young leave the nest in eight to ten weeks. Eagles prey on small and medium-size vertebrates; less frequently, they feed on carrion. They look for their prey while soaring in the air, or they lie in wait on the ground.

In the USSR there are five species: the golden eagle (A. chrysaëtus), the largest species, is very widespread; the imperial eagle (A. heliaca) usually inhabits the steppes; A. nipalensis lives in steppes and semideserts; and the spotted eagle (A. clanga) and A. pomarina are found in the forest zone. A closely related genus, Hieraaetus, is represented by two species: the booted eagle (H. pennata), characteristic of the forest zone, and Bonelli’s eagle (H. fasciata), found in the mountains of southern Middle Asia.

Eagles are rapidly declining in number; they are all protected species. The golden eagle is used for hunting foxes, wolves, and hares in Middle Asia. Many other predatory birds of the family Falconiformes (ten or 11 genera) are called eagles.

REFERENCE

Ptilsy Sovetskogo Soiuza, vol. 1. Edited by G. P. Dement’ev and N. A. Gladkov. Moscow, 1951.

A. I. IVANOV