> Britain's second largest bird of prey I don’t see it mentioned in the article but was our largest bird of prey? EDIT: found it; the white tailed eagle[1]. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/white-tailed-eagl...
Eagles are the biggest birds of prey which are active hunters.
A few species of vultures are much bigger than eagles, up to twice heavier.
In Europe, previously there was rather widespread a bird of prey that is intermediate in size and in appearance between eagles and true vultures, the so-called bearded vulture.
Unfortunately the bearded vulture and the true vultures have been exterminated in many parts of Europe by using poisoned dead animals.
For the bearded vulture, the Romans used a much better name, "ossifraga", which means "break-bones" (from which the word "osprey" comes, due to a confusion about the birds for which the name was used). The bearded vulture was called "break-bones", because it eats only bones, after breaking them by letting them fall on a rock from a great height.
Before the disappearances of the golden eagles and of the bearded vultures, they provided some of the most spectacular views in high mountains, due to their exquisite flying prowess.