A badge question to tackle

This may be one of the stranger requests you have had, but our rugby club uses the attached bird as part of the badge and we are trying to identify what kind of bird this might be? Chris Bell

QBirds are popular and common subjects in heraldry, and some do indeed derive from real species. One of the most common birds in heraldry, the Martlet, seems to have begun life as a Swallow, or possibly a lark, and the famous Liver Bird of Liverpool FC fame was originally some form of eagle, but is now most definitely a Cormorant. Eagles are a popular bird in coats of arms and logos, and quite a few seem to be crested, despite there being no truly crested eagles in Europe. It seems that the ‘crest’ was just a representation of the raised feathers present when an eagle is adopting an aggressive or defensive posture. We note that your rugby club is based in Bedford, so we’re assuming that the eagle was adopted from the apparent coat of arms of the last of the Beauchamp barons of Bedford. This eagle seems to be a generic heraldic eagle, rather than any actual species, we’re sorry to say.

A