Eagle is a common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae, it belongs to several genera that are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just 14 species can be found in North America, 9 in Central America, and 4 in Australia.
Eagles are large, powerfully built birds of prey, with heavy heads and beaks. Even the smallest eagles, like the booted eagle, have relatively longer and more evenly broad wings, and more direct, faster flight – despite the reduced size of aerodynamic feathers. Most eagles are larger than any other raptors apart from some vultures.
The bald eagle was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work Systema Naturae, under the name Falco leucocephalus. The word "bald" in the name refers to the white head feathers of an adult eagle, not to baldness in the human sense.