ハクトウワシ vs closed-sheathed cottongrass

Haliaeetus leucocephalus compared with Eriophorum brachyantherum

Key Differences

ハクトウワシ is Not Evaluated while closed-sheathed cottongrass is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	ハクトウワシ	closed-sheathed cottongrass
Kingdom	Animalia (動物)	Plantae (植物)
Phylum	Chordata (脊索動物)	Magnoliophyta (被子植物門)
Class	Aves (鳥類)	Liliopsida (単子葉植物綱)
Order	Accipitriformes (タカ目)	Poales (イネ目)
Family	Accipitridae (Hawks & Eagles)	Cyperaceae
Genus	Haliaeetus (Sea Eagles)	Eriophorum
Species	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eriophorum brachyantherum

Conservation Status

ハクトウワシ

NE — Not Evaluated

Population: ~316.7K

Trend: Increasing ↑

closed-sheathed cottongrass

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	ハクトウワシ	closed-sheathed cottongrass
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	28 years	—
Average Length	90 cm	—
Average Weight	5.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

ハクトウワシ

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 10 distinct biome types spanning the Neotropic and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (8 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Ecuador).

closed-sheathed cottongrass

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Range

Distributed across Canada, Norway, and Sweden. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

ハクトウワシ

アメリカの国鳥であり保全の成功を象徴するハクトウワシは翼開長が最大2.4 mに達し、北米全域の水辺近くの森林や湿地に生息する。強力な空中捕食者兼腐肉食者で魚を主食とするが、水鳥や腐肉も捕食する。DDT汚染と狩猟によって1960年代にほぼ絶滅に瀕したが、農薬の使用禁止と絶滅危惧種法の施行により劇的に回復した。

closed-sheathed cottongrass

Closed-sheathed cottongrass is a sedge in the genus Eriophorum (family Cyperaceae) characterized by leaf sheaths that are fused to form a closed tube around the stem, a morphological feature distinguishing it from open-sheathed relatives. Cottongrasses are quintessential plants of northern peatlands, bogs, and acidic fens across the boreal and arctic zones of the Northern Hemisphere, producing conspicuous cottony white seed heads — modified perianth bristles elongating as fruits mature — that transform peat bogs into spectacular white-tufted landscapes in late spring and early summer. These plants are ecological keystones of Sphagnum-dominated peat bogs, contributing organic matter through their dense root systems that resist decomposition in waterlogged, oxygen-depleted conditions, driving peat formation over millennia. Eriophorum species serve as important food plants for ptarmigan, geese, and various invertebrates in arctic and subarctic ecosystems. Climate change threatens cottongrass habitats through warmer temperatures accelerating peat decomposition, altered hydrological regimes, and permafrost thaw that fundamentally transforms the structure of northern peatlands.