This juvenile African Crowned
Eagle was photographed by Jo Sievers on the Aves North West Tour/ Safari/Adventure
at Roodewal Forest,
Soutpansberg, Limpopo Province,
South Africa on
Friday 4th May2012.
African
Crowned Eagle
The African Crowned Eagle
- Stephanoaetus coronatus - is a very large, powerful, crested bird of
prey which is found in Africa south of the Sahara.
In South Africa
it is found in the Eastern parts, where there is suitable habitat. It inhabits
dense forests, heavily wooded hillsides, dense woodland and rocky outcrops
throughout its range. Owing to lack of suitable habitat, the eagle's range is
discontinuous. They are non-migratory and largely sedentary.
Description
It has dark grey upperparts with
rufous and white below; its belly and breast are heavily mottled with black.
This eagle has relatively short, broad and rounded wings for added
maneuverability in its environment. The rufous underwing coverts and strongly
barred white and black outer wings and tail are all diagnostic in flight. The
large crest and this bird's large size make the adult near-unmistakable at
close range. The legs are extremely powerful and the eagle possesses formidably
large, strong talons, used for killing and dismembering prey. The female is
larger than the male.
Call
Pairs are fairly vocal in their
territory – the call – “cheeep chereep chereep”.
Food
Its diet is mostly mammalian,
with primates being the most commonly taken prey. It will also take hyraxes,
duikers and other small antelope, but will hunt guineafowl and domestic
livestock when mammalian food sources are scarce. Pairs sometimes hunt
cooperatively, 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
The pair collaborate in building
a massive nest in a fork of a large forest tree. A nest built from scratch may
take several months to construct, however existing nests are often repaired and
re-used during successive breeding seasons.
Crowned Eagle pairs breed once
every two years. A single breeding cycle is approximately 500 days.
Breeding season / egg laying is
from July to May and normally 2 eggs are laid which are usually incubated by
the female for between 49 to 51 days. The chick is fed by both adults and
remains reliant on the parents for about 11 months.
Conservation Status – Least Concern
The Crowned Eagle is fairly
common in suitable habitat, though its numbers show decline in sync with
deforestation. It is far more common in protected areas and reserves than
elsewhere in its range, though is still recorded consistently outside of these
areas. They are Near-threatened in South Africa, largely due to
persecution by small stock farmers and destruction of forest habitats.
Birdwatching
Ask Aves Birding
Tours/Safaris/Adventures to create an Aves custom tour for you or
book on one of the following scheduled Aves Birding Tours/Safaris/Adventures:
-
Aves Eastern Cape Birding
Tour / Safari /Adventure.
Aves Highlands / Tembe Birding Tour / Safari /
Adventure.
Aves KZN Birding Tour / Safari /
Adventure.
Aves North East Birding Tour /
Safari / Adventure.
Aves North West Birding Tour / Safari /Adventure.