Verreaux's Eagle (Aquila verreauxii)

Discussions and information on all Southern African Birds
User avatar
Penga Ndlovu
Posts: 2404
Joined: Thu May 31, 2012 9:38 pm
Country: Bush area
Location: Grietjie Nature Reserve, Phalaborwa
Contact:

Verreaux's Eagle (Aquila verreauxii)

Post by Penga Ndlovu »

Verraux Eagle (Black Eagle)

Image


"Longing for the bush is a luxury many have.
Living in the bush is a luxury that only a few have"
User avatar
Flutterby
Posts: 44150
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:28 pm
Country: South Africa
Location: Gauteng, South Africa
Contact:

Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Flutterby »

Official Announcement by Gerald Draper, Chairperson of Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

13/06/2019

In response to the numerous reports and discussion on various Social Media Platforms, Black Eagle Project confirms the following:

• The male eagle (Thulane) was last seen by Project Monitors on Saturday 8th June, although there was an unconfirmed sighting of him by a member of the public at around midday on Sunday 9th June
• The female eagle (Makatsa) has been on the nest incubating the eggs throughout this period, only leaving every few hours for between 2 and 5 minutes
• The first egg was due to hatch around the 11th or 12th June, and the second egg approximately 4 days later on 14th or 15th June
• Extensive searching for signs of the male have been done in known hunting areas from the R28 right up to the nesting site
• Initially the Project were not too concerned as Thulani has been known to “disappear”on occasions, sometimes for more than a day at a time
• As he has still not returned, it is highly unlikely that the female will continue with the current breeding cycle, and will probably abort shortly.
• The Roodekrans eagles have enjoyed fairly successful breeding cycles in recent years, and although sad, this scenario is not uncommon in the wild
• Black Eagles have been breeding in the Walter Sisulu Gardens since the 1940’s, and since the official formation of the Black Eagle Project in 1992, two adult birds have been replaced. Quatele disappeared in 1998 and was replaced by Thulani, and Emonyeni who disappeared in 2016 was replaced by Makatsa

We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate as and when any developments unfold.


User avatar
Flutterby
Posts: 44150
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:28 pm
Country: South Africa
Location: Gauteng, South Africa
Contact:

Re: Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Flutterby »

22 hrs ·
As an update to our initial statement on 13th June, Black Eagle Project confirms the following:

The male eagle (Thulane) has still not returned to the natal area, and we do now feel that it will be highly unlikely that he will in the future. One can only speculate what could have occurred, as he was highly experienced at the age of 25/27 years old

Photographic evidence on Wednesday 12th June confirmed 2 eggs on the nest, Thursday 13th June confirmed the presence of a chick, and Wednesday 19th June confirmed that the second egg as well as a second eaglet were not present. The initial chick, however, looks healthy and very active

The female eagle (Makatasa) has been feeding the chick since the hatching 7 days ago, and has impressed all of us with her drive and tenacity. Prey has been brought in on a regular basis this week, and she has also been bringing in green” sprays” to sanitise the nest

The efforts of the Sugarbush Ridges Coalition and Volunteer Rangers in destroying hundreds of snares in the area over the past few months, has led to the habitat being more stable than it has been in many years. Consequently, there is sufficient prey around, and Makatsa will hopefully not have to venture too far in pursuit of food

As Black Eagle pairs will normally not leave a chick unattended on the nest before the age of 5/6 weeks old, we are in a critical stage right now. Besides the obvious threat of predation, we are also approaching a particularly cold week which will leave the chick exposed to the elements if the female is off the nest for lengthy periods

Black Eagles have been breeding in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens since the 1940’s, and since the official formation of the Black Eagle Project in 1992, two adult birds have been replaced. Quatele disappeared in 1998 and was replaced by Thulane, and Emonyeni who disappeared in 2016 was replaced by Makatsa

We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate as and when any developments unfold


User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67237
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Lisbeth »

The Mother-instinct is something incredible ^Q^ ^Q^
destroying hundreds of snares in the area
0= 0=


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67237
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Lisbeth »

Image

This is a “Aquila verreauxii”.


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
User avatar
Flutterby
Posts: 44150
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:28 pm
Country: South Africa
Location: Gauteng, South Africa
Contact:

Re: Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Flutterby »

‎Shane Wilken‎ to BirdLife South Africa
2 hrs ·
Latest update on Makatsa our beautiful lonely female black eagle since Thulane went missing 5 weeks ago at Walter Sisulu National Botanical gardens. Reports came in earlier, 2 eagles flying above the nest. I went out to see this incredible sighting of 2 black eagles and yes Makatsa came in with a mate hopefully the pair will mate for life and the Black Eagles breeding in Roodekrans continues


User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67237
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Lisbeth »

^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
Klipspringer
Global Moderator
Posts: 5862
Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:34 pm
Country: Germany
Contact:

Re: Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Klipspringer »




As a further update to our announcement dated 5/8/2019, Black Eagle Project can now confirm that the 53 day old eaglet was definitely killed by the new male that had arrived in the Botanical Gardens on Saturday 13th July. At the time of our previous announcement, it was felt that there was not sufficient evidence based on the facts we had at hand, to make this a definitive conclusion.

After spending the past week speaking to Photographers, Monitors on Duty, and studying various photographs, we have the following evidence:

•On Sunday 4th August, photographs were taken from the surrounding ridges, which confirmed that the eaglet was alive, well, and feeding on the nest at 10.30am
•This could not be confirmed by Monitors on duty as the angle of the observation site makes it difficult to see right into the nest
•Photograph taken at 12.20pm of both adults at the nest
•Photograph taken at 12.22pm of female (Makatsa) on the nest
•Photograph of the eaglet on the nest taken at 12.23 pm
• We also now have a clear photograph showing one of the adults grasping the eaglet and flying off the nest with it in its talons at 12.25pm
• After zooming in to the underwing of the adult and comparing it to other recent photographs of the male and female, we now have irrefutable evidence that it was the male which had killed the eaglet
•The eaglet was then taken to the spot where some of the remains were recovered, and we also now have eye witness accounts of him having fed on the carcass

The following are dates in chronological order
•08/06/2019 – Thulane disappearance
•13/06/2019 – Chick hatching date
• 13/07/2019 – Appearance of new male in the Botanical Gardens
•04/08/2019 – Male kills Eaglet on nest


Klipspringer
Global Moderator
Posts: 5862
Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:34 pm
Country: Germany
Contact:

Re: Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Klipspringer »

Check out this video of Makatsa and the new male in courtship flight. The video ends off with the new male taking a branch the new nest he is building.



User avatar
Lisbeth
Site Admin
Posts: 67237
Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 12:31 pm
Country: Switzerland
Location: Lugano
Contact:

Re: Black Eagle Project Roodekrans

Post by Lisbeth »

Great video! and great that there is a new male ^Q^ ^Q^
Male kills Eaglet on nest
That's the way it is :-(


"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
Post Reply

Return to “Birds”