Sea Eagle Pair

Haliaeetus albicilla. Danube wetlands near Vienna, Austria. Mounted specimens, 1889.

This sea eagle pair was bagged by Crown Prince Rudolf on 22 January 1889 in the Danube wetlands near Vienna - just nine days before he committed suicide in Mayerling.

PRINCE, ORNITHOLOGIST, HUNTER
As tradition demanded, Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, was trained as a hunter. Under the guidance of Ferdinand von Hofstetter, then director of the NHM, he also became an amateur ornithologist. He authored some 40 publications on the subject: reports of hunting experiences, travel notes and ornithological observations. From his writings, it is clear that his understanding of ornithology was fundamentally different from modern-day concepts. As a “passionate huntsman”, he used his ornithological knowledge first and foremost to get as many “majestic sea eagles” in his sights as possible. It mattered little to him whether he was condemning the entire brood to starvation by killing the parents.
In a hand-written will, the crown prince left his impressive collection of trophies to the NHM. A mounted specimen from the year 1853 was added to the last pair of sea eagles he shot, and they were put on display in an eyrie. A sea eagle’s impressive eyrie can be as tall as four meters and is often used for many years.
In the 19th century numerous sea eagles bred in the wetland woods along the great rivers of Austria; with a wing span of 2.5 meters, they are some of the largest raptors in the world. Thanks to hunting and poisoned bait, and later also the use of DDT, their numbers declined steadily. By the 1970s, the eagle was a rare winter guest in Austria. Only with intensive protection in Northern and Eastern Europe have the populations gradually recovered. In 1999 sea eagles were finally once again breeding in Austria. In 2010 five breeding pairs were counted in the Danube wetlands.