pigargo-americano vs Choke

Haliaeetus leucocephalus compared with Epichloe typhina

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	pigargo-americano	Choke
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (cordados)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class	Aves (ave)	Sordariomycetes (Sordariomycetes)
Order	Accipitriformes (Hawks & Eagles)	Hypocreales (Hypocreales)
Family	Accipitridae (Hawks & Eagles)	Clavicipitaceae
Genus	Haliaeetus (Sea Eagles)	Epichloe
Species	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Epichloe typhina

Conservation Status

pigargo-americano

NE — Not Evaluated

Population: ~316.7K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Choke

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	pigargo-americano	Choke
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	28 years	—
Average Length	90 cm	—
Average Weight	5.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

pigargo-americano

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).

Choke

Habitat

Native to North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found in United States.

pigargo-americano

A ave nacional dos Estados Unidos e símbolo do sucesso conservacionista americano, a águia-careca tem uma envergadura de até 2,4 metros e habita florestas e zonas húmidas próximas de águas abertas em toda a América do Norte. Quase extinta na década de 1960 devido ao envenenamento por DDT e à caça, recuperou de forma notável após as proibições de pesticidas e a Lei das Espécies em Perigo.

Choke

Choke (Epichloe typhina) is an endophytic and pathogenic fungus in the family Clavicipitaceae, phylum Ascomycota, that colonises the tissues of various cool-season grasses (Poaceae) across Europe and North America. The name refers to the disease it causes — infected grass tillers are typically 'choked' (prevented from flowering) when the fungus produces a dense, white to cream-coloured, stromata (a compact fungal structure) that surrounds the flowering stem before it can emerge, suppressing seed production. Epichloe species exist along a mutualism-parasitism continuum; some strains are biotrophic endophytes living almost entirely within grass tissues without obvious symptoms and conferring benefits to the host such as increased drought resistance and deterrence of herbivores through alkaloid production, while others — including E. typhina — are more parasitic in nature, sterilising infected host tillers. The fungus spreads via airborne ascospores produced on its stroma that infect new host plants. Related Epichloe/Neotyphodium endophytes are of great practical importance to agriculture as they produce ergot alkaloids and other compounds that can cause toxicosis in livestock grazing infected pasture grasses. As a fungal pathogen/endophyte rather than a wildlife species, it is Not Evaluated by the IUCN.