Crowned Eagle
Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 5:21 pm
141. Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus (Kroonarend)
Order: Accipitriformes. Family: Accipitridae
Description
Length: 80-90 cm. Wingspan: up to 180 cm. Male weight: 2.7-4.1 kg. Female weight: 3.1-4.7 kg. One of the largest and most powerful eagles in Africa.
The head, back and wings are black or dark brown, the breast is cream or reddish, with distinctive black mottling or barring, and there is a long crest on the head which can be raised and which gives the species its common name. The tail is long and boldly marked with three black bands, and in flight the broad, rounded wings show a reddish underside, with white flight feathers that are clearly marked with three black bands in adult males and two in adult females. The feet are large, yellow and the legs bear barred, feathery “boots” right down to the ankles. The beak is also large and strong, with a conspicuous orange gape-flange (yellow in juveniles), but a dark grey cere. The eyes are a piercing pale yellow.
The female is larger than the male, and has heavier marking on the breast and a smaller crest.
The juvenile is distinct, being pale grey-brown above, with white scale-like edges to the feathers, a grey-brown tail, which has four dark bars in males and three in females, and a white head and underparts. Long, broadly barred tail and white (not grey spotted) neck separates from juvenile Martial Eagle. During its first few years, the juvenile gradually becomes darker and gains its black markings, but does not achieve full adult plumage until its fourth or even fifth year. Fledglings have grey eyes, which turn brown and then yellow as the bird matures.
Immatures resemble immature Martial Eagles but can be distinguished from that species by their heavily barred underwings and blotchy buff underwing coverts and underbody.
Distribution
Occurs from Guinea to South Africa, with an isolated population in Ethiopia. In southern Africa, it is generally uncommon in Zimbabwe, central Mozambique and eastern and southern South Africa.
Habitat
It generally prefers forest habitats, such as gallery forest, dense woodland, forest gorges in savanna or grassland and alien tree plantations.
Diet
It mainly eats mammals (especially hyraxes and antelope), doing most of its hunting from a perch just below the canopy, swooping down on its prey from above. Pairs sometimes hunt cooperatively to catch monkeys, using a clever technique whereby one bird flies above the canopy overhead of a monkey troop, eliciting alarm calls from them which exposes their position. The eagle's mate then follows a short while later, killing from behind any monkey unfortunate enough to be caught out in the open. It usually strikes the skull or diaphragm of prey with its talons in a downward motion, a movement powerful enough to kill instantly.
Breeding
Crowned Eagle pairs breed once every two years. A single breeding cycle is approximately 500 days.
The nest is built mainly by the female in about 5-6 weeks, consisting of a large platform built of branches up to about 1.5 m long and lined with the leaves of Willow beachwood (Faurea saligna) and Eucalytus. It is typically placed in the highest forked branch of the tallest available smooth-barked tree, about 15-55 m above ground. It is often positioned at the base of a ravine or at the edge of a plantation, using the same site over multiple breeding seasons and only rebuilding a new nest if the previous one is lost. Egg-laying season is from July-May, peaking from August-October. It lays 1-2, usually 2 eggs, which are incubated mainly the female for about 49-51 days. Occasionally when the male is incubating the female gives him prey as a gift, a unique behaviour among African eagles. The chicks are brooded by the female for the first 21 days or so of their lives, while the male hands her a prey item to feed to them every circa one and a half days, never feeding them himself. When the young become about 60 days old the female starts to hunt for them as well, soon surpassing the male in deliveries of food to the nest. Even though it usually lays 2 eggs, only one chick usually lives to become a juvenile, meaning that it is highly likely that one chick kills and eats the other at some point during the nestling period. At about 110-115 days old the lone nestling typically clambers on to the branches surrounding the nest and takes its first flight, remaining reliant on its parents for food for 9-11 months longer before becoming fully independent.
Call
Pairs are fairly vocal in their territory. The call is a cheeep chereep chereep. Listen to Bird Call.
Status
Locally common resident. It has been uplisted to Near Threatened on the IUCN List.
Order: Accipitriformes. Family: Accipitridae
- African Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus.jpg (44.36 KiB) Viewed 3674 times
Description
Length: 80-90 cm. Wingspan: up to 180 cm. Male weight: 2.7-4.1 kg. Female weight: 3.1-4.7 kg. One of the largest and most powerful eagles in Africa.
The head, back and wings are black or dark brown, the breast is cream or reddish, with distinctive black mottling or barring, and there is a long crest on the head which can be raised and which gives the species its common name. The tail is long and boldly marked with three black bands, and in flight the broad, rounded wings show a reddish underside, with white flight feathers that are clearly marked with three black bands in adult males and two in adult females. The feet are large, yellow and the legs bear barred, feathery “boots” right down to the ankles. The beak is also large and strong, with a conspicuous orange gape-flange (yellow in juveniles), but a dark grey cere. The eyes are a piercing pale yellow.
The female is larger than the male, and has heavier marking on the breast and a smaller crest.
The juvenile is distinct, being pale grey-brown above, with white scale-like edges to the feathers, a grey-brown tail, which has four dark bars in males and three in females, and a white head and underparts. Long, broadly barred tail and white (not grey spotted) neck separates from juvenile Martial Eagle. During its first few years, the juvenile gradually becomes darker and gains its black markings, but does not achieve full adult plumage until its fourth or even fifth year. Fledglings have grey eyes, which turn brown and then yellow as the bird matures.
Immatures resemble immature Martial Eagles but can be distinguished from that species by their heavily barred underwings and blotchy buff underwing coverts and underbody.
Distribution
Occurs from Guinea to South Africa, with an isolated population in Ethiopia. In southern Africa, it is generally uncommon in Zimbabwe, central Mozambique and eastern and southern South Africa.
Habitat
It generally prefers forest habitats, such as gallery forest, dense woodland, forest gorges in savanna or grassland and alien tree plantations.
Diet
It mainly eats mammals (especially hyraxes and antelope), doing most of its hunting from a perch just below the canopy, swooping down on its prey from above. Pairs sometimes hunt cooperatively to catch monkeys, using a clever technique whereby one bird flies above the canopy overhead of a monkey troop, eliciting alarm calls from them which exposes their position. The eagle's mate then follows a short while later, killing from behind any monkey unfortunate enough to be caught out in the open. It usually strikes the skull or diaphragm of prey with its talons in a downward motion, a movement powerful enough to kill instantly.
Breeding
Crowned Eagle pairs breed once every two years. A single breeding cycle is approximately 500 days.
The nest is built mainly by the female in about 5-6 weeks, consisting of a large platform built of branches up to about 1.5 m long and lined with the leaves of Willow beachwood (Faurea saligna) and Eucalytus. It is typically placed in the highest forked branch of the tallest available smooth-barked tree, about 15-55 m above ground. It is often positioned at the base of a ravine or at the edge of a plantation, using the same site over multiple breeding seasons and only rebuilding a new nest if the previous one is lost. Egg-laying season is from July-May, peaking from August-October. It lays 1-2, usually 2 eggs, which are incubated mainly the female for about 49-51 days. Occasionally when the male is incubating the female gives him prey as a gift, a unique behaviour among African eagles. The chicks are brooded by the female for the first 21 days or so of their lives, while the male hands her a prey item to feed to them every circa one and a half days, never feeding them himself. When the young become about 60 days old the female starts to hunt for them as well, soon surpassing the male in deliveries of food to the nest. Even though it usually lays 2 eggs, only one chick usually lives to become a juvenile, meaning that it is highly likely that one chick kills and eats the other at some point during the nestling period. At about 110-115 days old the lone nestling typically clambers on to the branches surrounding the nest and takes its first flight, remaining reliant on its parents for food for 9-11 months longer before becoming fully independent.
Call
Pairs are fairly vocal in their territory. The call is a cheeep chereep chereep. Listen to Bird Call.
Status
Locally common resident. It has been uplisted to Near Threatened on the IUCN List.
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