Africa Wild

136. Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus, Aquila pennata (Dwergarend)
ORDER ACCIPITRIFORMES. Family: Accipitridae


Descripton
The Booted is a small eagle, comparable to the Steppe Buzzard in size though more eagle-like in shape with a rounded head and heavily feathered legs.There are two relatively distinct colour morphs, that are almost identical above but differ in the shading of the underparts. Above, the two forms are mainly brown, except for a light-streaked forecrown, cream to golden hind-crown, distinctive light panels on the wing coverts, and white patches resembling ‘headlights’ where the wings meet the body. However, whereas the pale form has a largely creamy-white underbody, the dark form usually has a dark brown underbody, with variable dark and light streaks and spots, and in some individuals, a slight rufous tinge. The tail is squarer than in Wahlberg’s Eagle.
The sexes are similar in appearance, but the female is on average ten percent larger than the male, while the juvenile plumage of both forms differs only very subtly from that of the adults.
Similar species: In both colour forms it differs from Wahlberg's Eagle by its shorter, broader tail and broader wings.


Distribution
It breeds from central Asia to southern Europe and North Africa, heading south in the non-breeding season to India and sub-Saharan Africa. In southern Africa it is locally fairly common in patches across the region; it also has a small breeding population in the Western and Eastern Cape.



Habitat
It generally prefers mountainous country with cliffs, although non-breeding migrants can occur in almost any type of natural habitat.

Movements and Migration
South Africa has two different populations, each with a different migratory pattern. The one breeds in Eurasia then heads south to southern Africa, excluding the Western Cape and Namibia, where it stays from November-February. The other population breeds in the Western and Eastern Cape, arriving from July-August and staying until March, it spends the rest of its time in its non-breeding grounds in Namibia and southern Angola. Breeding occurs throughout the Western Cape; the south-western corner of the Northern Cape and the western parts of the Eastern Cape. There is also a small breeding population in Namibia. A small percentage overwinter.

Diet
It mainly eats birds (also insects, small mammals and reptiles), usually hunting aerially, stooping from a position high above the ground, to surprise and strike its prey from above.

Breeding
Monogamous, territorial solitary nester, performing spectacular aerial displays in which it calls loudly, while performing steep dives and upward stoops. The nest is built or refurbished by both sexes, consisting of a platform of thin sticks and twigs, with a cup lined with green leaves. It is typically placed at the base of a bush or small tree on a cliff ledge, often using the same nest repeatedly for up to about 28 years. It may also rarely breed in the canopy of a Eucalyptus tree in an open are, or alternatively use the old nest of a Grey heron or Black kite. Egg-laying season is from August-January, peaking from September-October. It almost invariably lays a single egg, which is mainly incubated by the female for about 44-46 days. The chick is fed by the female with food provided by the male, leaving the nest after about 70-75 days.

Call
The call is a shrill kli-kli-kli or a high-pitched pee-pee-pee-pee Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Uncommon resident and summer visitor.

136. Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus, Aquila pennatus


Pale morph

© Sharifa
Pale morph, Addo Elephant National Park

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

© Mel
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Kamfersboom

© nan
Bontebok National Park, Western Cape

© Dewi
Dark morph

© okie
Western Cape

Links:
Sabap2
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
Birds of Botswana
http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/Speci ... pecID=8351
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/bir ... nnatus.htm
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-booted-eagle.html
http://www.arkive.org/booted-eagle/hieraaetus-pennatus/

132. Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax (Roofarend)
Order: Accipitriformes. Family: Accipitridae


Description
Size: 65-72 cm. Adult either tawny with or without dark-brown mottling on the wings or red-brown with dark mottling. Adult has a pale yellow eye. At all ages the gape does not extent beyound the centre the eye. Yellow cere and gape. Yellow beak with black tip; feathers covering the whole leg; yellow toes. In flight shows no barring on the tail. Little white in the wings and none on the upper tail coverts.
Female is usually darker than male.
Juvenile is rufous brown, fading to buff as sub-adult. Immature has dark brown eyes.
Similar species: Easily confused with migrant Steppe Eagle, which is similar in size and shape. Usually paler than Steppe Eagle and always more rufous. At close range, the gape length is diagnostic; in Tawny Eagle it extends only to below the middle of the eye.


Distribution
Much of sub-Saharan Africa, northern regions of South-Africa, except for the Freestate, southern KwaZulu-Natal and Cape provinces.

Habitat
Semi-arid Acacia savanna, and also semi-desert, and steppes. Most frequently in wooded game areas where it perches conspicuously on the top of trees.

Diet
Prey includes mammals (up to young antelope size), birds, reptiles, frogs, fish and insects. Scavenges at carcasses and also kleptoparasitises other eagles, storks and hornbills.

Breeding
Monogamous, territorial solitary nester, performing a courtship display in which the breeding pair circle together, in shallow undulating flight.
The nest is a platform of sticks, lined with green leaves, grass and litter, such as paper and plastic bags. It is typically placed on top of a large tree, especially a large Acacia, or alternatively on a Red-billed buffalo-weaver colony or on the top-most cross-bar of a pylon. It also takes over the nests of other birds, including storks and vultures. Egg-laying season is from March-September, peaking from April-June. It lays 1-3 eggs, which are mainly incubated by the female for about 39-44 days. For the first 10 days of the chicks' lives, they are brooded almost constantly by the female. At this early stage, the male provides most of the food, although later in the nestling period the female also contributes. The chicks take their first flight at about 11-12 weeks old, still returning the nest to be fed for a further six weeks before becoming fully independent.

Call
Guttural kioh or a sharp bark kowk.

Status
Fairly common in protected areas, but population decrease elsewhere of concern. Regarded as vulnerable. Resident and local migrant. Usually found singly or in pairs (unlike Steppe Eagle).

132. Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax




Juvenile

© nan

© Mel

© Sharifa & Duke

© harrys
Pale morph

© Sharifa & Duke

© BluTuna



© Flutterby
Juvenile

© leachy

© steamtrainfan

© ExFmem

© ExFmem

Links:
Species text Sabap1: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/132.pdf
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Sasol Birds of Prey of Africa
Global Raptor Information Network
Newman's birds of Southern Africa

133. Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis (Steppe-arend)
ORDER ACCIPITRIFORMES. Family: Accipitridae


Description
65-80 cm. Plumage is variable.
Adult is usually a uniform dark brown, and the tail is always strongly barred. The yellow gape that extends behind the eye in the race A. n. nipalensis. The gape of the race A. n. orientalis (the most common race in the subregion) extend behind the middle of the eye.
Juveniles and immatures, which are much more common in the subregion, are lighter brown. In flight it shows two prominent light bars along the wing. A white U-shaped crescent formed by the uppertail coverts and pale panels in the outer wings.
Similar species: Plumage too variable for separation from Tawny Eagle. The plumage is mostly dark brown, with well-defined bars on the flight and tail feathers. The main distinguishing features are the reddish-brown patch on the nape of the neck, the oval nostrils, and the long, yellow gape that extends behind the eye (not just to below the eye to the middle of the eye as in Tawny). In flight it shows a more curved 'S' trailing edge to the wing than the Tawny Eagle. Dark eye.


Distribution
An extremely widespread species, which makes long-distance migrations between summer breeding grounds and wintering sites. Subspecies Aquila nipalensis orientalis breeds in extreme south-east Europe, southern parts of the Russian Federation, and Central Asia as far east as eastern Kazakhstan. During the winter, it migrates to the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and eastern and southern Africa. By contrast, Aquila nipalensis nipalensis breeds from the Altai Mountains, south to Tibet, and east as far as north-east China and eastern Mongolia, and mostly winters in southern Asia.
In southern Africa it is locally common in patches of northern Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip), northern and eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, western Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa.

Habitat
It generally prefers savanna, open woodland and grassland; it is largely absent from mountainous and densely forested areas.

Movements and migrations
Palearctic breeding migrant, arriving in southern Africa in the period from October-November. It then moves nomadically in search of termite alate emergences, eventually departing in the period from March-April. In southern Africa, most records are sightings of immature birds.

Diet
It feeds mainly on termite alates, gathering in flocks of up to about 800 individuals at termite alate emergences, chasing them both in the air and on the ground.

Breeding
Steppe Eagles arrive at their breeding grounds around April, at the start of spring. Large nests, up to a metre wide, are constructed from twigs and lined with various materials, such as old rags and camel dung. While the nests are usually placed on the ground in a position allowing a good view of the surroundings, as a result of habitat alteration and persecution, nests are increasingly being found in trees, bushes and on artificial structures. The female lays a clutch of between one and three eggs which are incubated for 45 days, with the chicks being brooded for a further 55 to 65 days before fledging.

Call
Usually silent in Africa.
http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Aquila-nipalensis

Status
Uncommon summer visitor to the north.

133. Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis

© Toko
Immature

© harrys

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/133.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-steppe-eagle.html
David Allan. A Photographic Guide to Birds of Prey of Southern, Central and East Africa
Sasol Birds of Prey of Africa
http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/Speci ... pecID=8167
William S. Clark. A field guide to the raptors of Europe, The MIddle East and North Africa

131. Verreaux's Eagle (Formerly known as Black Eagle) Aquila verreauxii (Witkruisarend)
Order: Accipitriformes. Family: Accipitridae


Description
A large, long-tailed black eagle with black plumage overall, except on back and rump.The back shows a broad white V-shaped patch. Lower back, rump and uppertail coverts are white. Underparts are black. The wings are characteristically narrow at the base, with long secondaries and show a large white panel on both sides on the primaries, extending to the leading edge. The powerful hooked bill is grey with yellow cere and gape. Eyes are brown, surrounded by yellow eye-ring. Lores are yellow. Legs and feet are yellow with black talons. Sexes are similar. Female larger with more extensive white back patches. Juveniles are usually light and dark brown with a black face.


Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. It's distribution is strongly linked to that of the rock hyraxes, occurring from Eritrea through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia to South Africa (Northern Mapumalanga, Drakensberg region of KZN, Eastern Cape, Cape and Western Cape into Namibia).



Habitat
Mainly in rocky areas where there are cliffs.

Diet
Mainly mammals, especially rock hyrax and birds (Helmeted Guineafowl). They hunt by surprising their prey in a fast stoop, but may also hunt from a perch.

Breeding
Monogamous, territorial solitary nester, alternating between up to five different nest sites from one breeding season to the next, although it often favours one of them and uses it for many years. The nest is built by both sexes in six weeks to four months, consisting of a large platform of sticks with a cup lined with green leaves, up to two metres in diameter with a bowl 30-40 cm deep. It is typically placed on a steep and inaccessible cliff, although it may also use a tree, such as Mountain-acacia (Brachystegia glaucescens), Euporbia, Baobab (Adansonia digitata) or Stone pine (Pinus pinea). It rarely uses a man-made structure, or it can even take over the nest of another bird, such as the African fish-eagle, instead of building its own. Egg-laying season is from April-July, peaking in June. It lays 1-2 creamy-white eggs, which are mainly incubated by the female for about 44-48 days, while the male feeds her at the nest. The chicks are fed by the female with food provided by the male, and can already feed themselves at four weeks. If there are two chicks, the older one relentlessly attacks its younger sibling until it dies, regardless of the fact that they are both cared for and fed equally. The surviving chick leaves the nest at about 90-98 days old, and is chased out of the territory by its parents about four months later.

Call
Clucking pyuck; in display weeeee-oh.

Status
Locally common to scarce resident.

131. Verreaux's Eagle Aquila verreauxii







© Penga Ndlovu

© Duke
Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens, Johannesburg

© Duke
Nest, Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens, Johannesburg

© Duke
Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens, Johannesburg

© Duke
Juvenile ("Jono"), Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens, Johannesburg

© nan
Nest, Augrabies

Links:
Species text Sabap1: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/131.pdf
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/species_info.p ... #menu_left
Bird Life South Africa. Find rare birds: Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens
Sasol Birds of Prey of Africa
Oiseaux net: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-verreaux-eagle.html
Global Raptor Information Network: http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/Speci ... pecID=8170
Newman's birds of Southern Africa
SANBI

137. African Hawk-Eagle Aquila spilogaster (Grootjagarend)
ORDER ACCIPITRIFORMES. Family: Accipitridae


Description
Medium-sized eagle with a length of about 65 cm. The upperparts are dark, almost black, and the underparts are white heavily streaked with black and white unspotted thighs; from below the underwing coverts are seen to be black with white spots; the underwing flight feathers are white and have a broad black trailing edge. Upperwing shows a pale panel to the primaries. Undertail is also white with black barring, but does not show a broad terminal bar (evident in Ayre's Hawk-eagle).The feathers on the legs are plain white; the iris is yellow; the bill black with grey cere; and the legs are greenish-yellow.
Sexes are similar, with the female being larger than the male and more heavily streaked in front than the male.
Juveniles are brown above with rufous breast, belly and vent.


Distribution
Occupies much of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the lowland forest of the DRC and West Africa. In southern Africa it is locally fairly common in northern and central Namibia, Botswana (excluding the arid Kalahari), Zimbabwe, Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa.



Habitat
Woodland and savanna, largely absent from high altitudes and dense forest.

Diet
It mainly eats birds, typically hunting from a perch from which it intercepts its prey, using its large feet to tackle and kill animals weighing up to about 4 kg. It often uses a perch overlooking a water hole, then waits for birds to come and drink. Two hawk-eagles may hunt cooperatively; one bird flushes prey which the other strikes, then they both feed on the carcass.

Breeding
Monogamous solitary nester, performing a courtship display in which the breeding pair soar together while calling to each other. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a large platform of sticks and twigs, about 1 m diameter, lined with green leaves. It is typically placed just below the canopy of a tall tree, especially a Knob thorn (Acacia nigrescens), about 6-19 m above ground. It may use an electricity pylon, cliff face or the nest of another bird, such as Martial eagle. Egg-laying season is from April-August, peaking from June-July. It lays 1-2 eggs which are chalky-white with dull red markings. Eggs are mainly incubated by the female for about 42-44 days, while the male regularly provides her and the chicks with food. The chicks are brooded closely by the female for the first week; she continues to stay close to the nest for another three weeks, then joins the male on hunting trips to provide for the young. The chicks leave the nest at about 73 days old, becoming fully independent roughly three months later.

Call
They have quite a range of calls, including an almost musical klu-klu-klu-klueee.

Status
Locally common resident.

137. African Hawk-Eagle Aquila spilogaster

© Flutterby

© Pumbaa

© Pumbaa

© JustN@ture

© Bushcraft
Kruger National Park, S41

© Dewi

© JustN@ture
Juvenile

© Dewi
Juvenile

© harrys

© harrys
Juvenile (starting to moult into adult)

© Sprocky

© Pumbaa

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/137.pdf
Sabap2
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
Sasol Birds of Prey of Africa
Birds of Botswana
http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/Speci ... pecID=8287
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-afric ... eagle.html