Beanca

Steppe Eagle

Height: about 24 inches (feet to head)

Weight: Approx 2300 grams (9 pounds)

Wingspan: 6.5 feet

Color: Brown with white and gold highlights 

Species: Aquila Nepalansis

Age: 44 yrs

Injury: Right wing broken in 7 places

Beanca (Pronounced Bee–ahn-kah) is a Steppe Eagle. She is in the Golden Eagle Family, and is therefore a mountain eagle. She eats rats, mice, and chickens.

Beanca has a permanently injured wing, so she is not able to feed herself in the wild. She stays at the American Wildlife Refuge in a large flight cage where she flies around whenever she wants.

Beanca's History

John got a call in 1969 about an eagle with an injured wing. If he did not want her she would have been euthanized. He picked her up on Oct. 31 1969.

She had a shattered humorous (upper wing bone between the elbow and shoulder). It was repaired with pins and wires. It had 7 breaks. It healed as a solid bone, not a hollow one, so now it weighs more than the other wing. She flies fairly well, for short distances. She cannot always maneuver very well, so she could not live on her own.

She lived with John Barkas for 32 years.

Beanca and John were on TV, in circuses, and in the movies (notable role in "Harpy"). They did comedy educational television in Cleveland Ohio for years.

They moved to NC and lived in the mountains where they tried to start the "Native American Wildlife Refuge", but there were problems, so John decided to move to the central area of NC.

They lived in Raleigh and worked on small educational shows for 20 years. Eventually John decided to start the American Wildlife Refuge.

John passed away in August of 2001.

Beanca now stays with her guardian, Steve Stone.  -She does the NC State Fair and dozens of other festivals each year and has been doing so for about 8 years.

In a year's time she does over 100 shows and is seen by approx. 200,000 to 300,000 people.

Beanca has a 6ft plus wingspan, she weighs 8 to 10 pounds and eats rodents (rats and mice) and fowl (chicks). She eats about a half pound of food each day.

Steppe Eagles - Aquila Nepelansis

Steppe Eagles are in the same family as Golden Eagles.

Like golden eagles, they are mountain eagles, living in the cliffs of the Siberian Steppes. They only breed in the steppes and nowhere else.

Steppe Eagles migrate south from Siberia to Kenya. They migrate in groups of 20 to 100 birds. Their diet changes as they migrate. In Russia, they eat mostly rodents and small animals. In their migratory path they eat mostly carrion, but will take down large game if necessary to feed the flock. Once they get to the southern areas, they feed mostly on termites in termite mounds (about 2000 to 4000 per day) but will also feed on carrion. They do not hunt in the south; they scavenge.

Like all eagles, they change plumage colors as they mature. Each year, for the first 4 years, their feather color is different. On their 4th year they get their mature color,s and from then on stay relatively the same.

After they mature (4 yrs) they mate for the life of the pair. If a mate dies, the survivor will find a new mate, but until then they are together.

In Russia, Steppe Eagles are trained to hunt wolves to protect farms

They are very similar to golden eagles except:

• They have gold on the tops of their head only: goldens have gold all the way down to their shoulders. 
• They have a larger gape. Their mouth opening goes to the back of their eyes; a golden barely goes half way back.
• Steppe eagles are slightly smaller than northern goldens. A female steppe is about the size of a male golden.