The African hawk-eagle (''Aquila spilogaster'') is a large
bird of prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...
. Like all
eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
s, it belongs to the family ''
Accipitridae
The Accipitridae is one of the three families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-s ...
''. This species’ feathered legs mark it as a member of the
Aquilinae
The Aquilinae are a subfamily of eagles of the family Accipitridae. The general common name used for members of this subfamily is "booted eagle", although this is also the common name of a member of the subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamau ...
subfamily.
[Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamauf, A., Griffiths, C., Haring, E., Huddleston, C.J., Kabra, S., Kocum, A., Krosby, M., Kvaloy, K., Mindell, D., Rasmussen, P., Rov, N., Wadleigh, R., Wink, M. & Gjershaug, J.O. (2017). ''Phylogeny and new taxonomy of the Booted Eagles (Accipitriformes: Aquilinae)''. Zootaxa, 4216(4), 301-320.] The African hawk-eagle breeds in
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a bird of assorted
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...
, including both
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
and
hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit.
Terminology
The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...
y areas but the tend to occur in woodland that is typically
dry. The species tends to be rare in areas where their preferred habitat type is absent.
This species builds a stick nest of around across in a large
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
. The clutch is generally one or two
eggs
Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
. The African hawk-eagle is powerfully built and hunts small to medium sized
mammals and
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s predominantly, occasionally taking
reptiles and other prey as well.
[Steyn, P. (1983). ''Birds of prey of southern Africa: Their identification and life histories''. Croom Helm, Beckenham (UK). 1983.] The
call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
is a shrill ''kluu-kluu-kluu''.
The African hawk-eagle is considered a fairly stable species and a species of
Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
per the
IUCN.
Taxonomy
The African eagle is a member of the
Aquilinae
The Aquilinae are a subfamily of eagles of the family Accipitridae. The general common name used for members of this subfamily is "booted eagle", although this is also the common name of a member of the subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamau ...
or booted eagles. This is a rather
monophyletic subfamily of Approximately 38 species are classified in the subfamily, all bearing the signature well-feathered tarsi.
[ The ]Bonelli's eagle
The Bonelli's eagle (''Aquila fasciata'') is a large bird of prey. The common name of the bird commemorates the Italian ornithologist and collector Franco Andrea Bonelli. Bonelli is credited with gathering the type specimen, most likely from an ...
(''Aquila fasciata'') was once lumped within the same species as the African hawk-eagle.[ However, there are several morphological differences between the two species, in addition to discrepancies in life history and their considerably allopatric distribution. Now, the two species are almost universally considered distinct species. Despite the differences between the Bonelli's eagle and the African hawk-eagle the two species are visibly similar and are still considered ]sister species
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
.[ Kemp, A. C., P. F. D. Boesman, and J. S. Marks (2020). ''African Hawk-Eagle (Aquila spilogaster) '', version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.] Recent DNA research has resulted in the two species being moved, in 2014, to the genus '' Aquila'' from ''Hieraaetus
The genus ''Hieraaetus'', sometimes known as small eagles or hawk-eagles, denotes a group of smallish eagles usually placed in the accipitrid subfamilies Buteoninae or Aquilinae.
They are medium-sized birds of prey inhabiting Europe, Asia, ...
'', along with a third possibly related species, the Cassin's hawk-eagle
Cassin's hawk-eagle (''Aquila africana'') or Cassin's eagle, is a relatively small eagle in the family Accipitridae. Its feathered legs mark it as member of the Aquilinae or booted eagle subfamily. A forest-dependent species, it occurs in primary ...
(''Aquila africana''). More specifically and surprisingly, Bonelli's, African hawk- and Cassin's hawk-eagles were found to be genetically closely related to the golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...
(''Aquila chrysaetos'') species complex
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
, which also includes Verreaux's eagle
Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the Indian black eagle (''Ictinaetus malayensis''), which lives far to t ...
(''Aquila verreauxii''), Gurney's eagle
Gurney's eagle (''Aquila gurneyi'') is a large eagle in the family Accipitridae. It is found in New Guinea and Wallacea, and is an occasional vagrant to Australia.
The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the British banker and amateur or ...
(''Aquila gurneyi'') and wedge-tailed eagle
The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...
(''Aquila audax''). These species are all rather larger and morphologically distinct (in adaptation to their open country habits) from the Bonelli's and African hawk-eagles and tend to have much more uniform and darker ventral plumages. Furthermore the four other traditional members of the '' Aquila'' genus have been revealed to be a separate species complex
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
despite showing superficial similarity to the golden eagle group, i.e. being relatively large and long winged with usually rather uniform and dark (typically brownish) colours.
Description
The African hawk-eagle has a somewhat small head but one that protrudes quite well due its quite long neck and relatively prominent beak. Furthermore, the species possesses a longish tail, with long and somewhat slender feathered legs and has large, robust feet.[ Although African hawk-eagles occasionally take to perching in the open, they usually are somewhat obscured for much of the day within the cover of ]foliage
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, s ...
and often perch relatively low down in tall trees.[Heyman, P., Brown, L., Urban, E. K., & Newman, K. B. (2020). ''The Birds of Africa: Volume I''. Bloomsbury Publishing.] The wing tips tend to fall a bit short of the tail tip.[ The adult African hawk-eagle evidences a fairly ]pied
A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...
look with slate black-grey coloration above and whitish coloration below. At a distance, they may appear purely black-and-white but at close range they show sparse but extensive white flecks on the mantle and wing coverts. Occasionally, a greyer patch may be apparent on the folded secondaries of perched or sitting birds.[ The tail of an adult is grey with thin dark bars, a broad subterminal band and a white tail tip. The adult hawk-eagle’s underside is white with bold but small and sparse drop-like blackish streaks. As was noted in a 2010 study, in an usual instance of plumage ]sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...
for an Aquilinae eagle, the underside tends to more sparsely marked on adult males and more densely marked on adult females to such a degree that an experienced observer may be able to sex individual African hawk-eagles despite the two genders being similar in size.[Hockey, P. A. R., Dean, W. R. J. & Ryan, P. G. 2005. ''Roberts - Birds of southern Africa'', VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town. ] The adult African hawk-eagles has whitish coloring on the thighs and the crissum.[Van Perlo, B. (1999). ''Birds of Southern Africa''. Harpercollins Pub Limited.] The juvenile of the species is highly distinct from older hawk-eagles. Juveniles are moderately dark brown above with some pale edging, a slightly black-streaked head and a more clearly barred tail than adult hawk-eagles. The underside has a tawny-rufous
Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...
base colour. When juvenile African hawk-eagles present black shaft streaks below they are usually only obvious on the flanks and they can border on being absent.[ Once developing as an immature at two to four years old, the upperside becomes progressively darker, the underside paler and more streaked and a subterminal tail band forms. At four years of age, as in related species, the African hawk-eagle becomes fully mature.][Amar, A., Buij, R., Suri, J., Sumasgutner, P., & Virani, M. Z. (2018). ''Conservation and ecology of African raptors''. In Birds of Prey (pp. 419-455). Springer, Cham.] The eyes of adult hawk-eagles are rich yellow while those of juveniles are hazel-brown while the cere and feet at all ages range from dull to somewhat brighter yellow.[
In flight, the African hawk-eagle appears as a mid-sized raptor with a rather small but well-protruding head, a longish tail and wings that are neither particularly long nor broad.][ The species tends to flight with powerful and shallow beats. When gliding or soaring, their wings tend to be well-spread and, when engaging a glide, their carpal points tend to be only slightly forward pressed. Adult African hawk-eagle possess on the upperside of their wings a significant pale whitish-grey window on the base of their primaries, extending into dark grey panels across the black-tipped secondaries. The grey tail usually only shows obscure bars from a distance besides the broad subterminal band. From below, the black trailing edges with contrasting greyish white flight feathers as well as the more apparent subterminal band are in both cases distinctly abutted by paler grey feathering. The greater coverts show various solid black diagonal markings that coalesce and create a signature appearance from below in a flying adult African hawk-eagle.][Clark, B., & Davies, R. (2018). ''African Raptors''. Bloomsbury Publishing.] In flying juveniles, if seen from above, the contrasting creamy window, as in the adults, and barred tail stand out as the most distinct features of the species. Below, the juvenile African hawk-eagles show rufous wing linings that match the forebody and rather varying dusky edges, which often form carpal arcs and sometimes continuing as wing diagonals. The wings are otherwise rather nondescript in juvenile African hawk-eagles with greyish buff secondaries and tail thinly barred and white-based primaries.[
]
Size
The African hawk-eagle is a small-to-mid-sized eagle and a fairly large raptor.[ Despite its relatively modest size, this species can appear surprisingly large when perched or standing on the ground due in no small part to its long neck, long legs and rather upright posture.][ The sexes are rather similar in size for a bird of prey, but the females, in the expected ]sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...
, averages about 5% about larger and up to 20% heavier. On the other hand, there is reportedly little overall discrepancy in their foot size or particularly in talon size.[ In total length, African hawk-eagles may vary in length from , with some of the largest females measuring to as much as .][Sinclair, I., Hockey, P., Tarboton, W., Ryan, P., & Perrins, N. (2020). ''Sasol Birds of Southern Africa''. Penguin Random House South Africa.] Mean length of a male may be around while the mean length of a female may be around . Wingspan among this species may vary from .[ Body mass in males can vary from while the body mass of females can vary from .][Parry, S. J. (2001). ''The booted eagles (Aves: Accipitridae): perspectives in evolutionary biology''. University of London, University College London (United Kingdom).] In one sample, 14 males were found to have averaged while a sample of 10 males averaged .[ In same datasets, 7 females averaged and 10 females averaged .][ A sample of 36 unsexed African hawk-eagles in southern Africa averaged in wingspan while an accompanying sample of 21 unsexed specimens averaged in body mass.][Mendelsohn, J. M., Kemp, A. C., Biggs, H. C., Biggs, R., & Brown, C. J. (1989). ''Wing areas, wing loadings and wing spans of 66 species of African raptors''. Ostrich, 60(1), 35-42.] Among standard measurements, the wing chord of males measures from while that of females is from . African hawk-eagles measure in tail length from and, in a limited sample, in tarsus length from .[ In Kenya, mean wing chord length of unsexed hawk-eagles was , mean tail length was , mean culmen length was and the hallux claw, the enlarged rear toe talon that is used as the primary killing apparatus on accipitrid raptors, measured a mean of , measuring from in different specimens.][Smeenk, C. (1974). ''Comparative-ecological studies of some East African birds of prey''. Ardea 62 (1-2) : 1-97.] The talon size is extremely large for this raptor’s size, being similar to that of some eagles that are around twice as heavy such as eastern imperial eagle
The eastern imperial eagle (''Aquila heliaca'') is a large bird of prey that breeds in southeastern Europe and extensively through West and Central Asia. Most populations are migratory and winter in northeastern Africa, the Middle East and South ...
s (''Aquila heliaca'').[Brown, L. & Amadon, D. (1986). ''Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World''. The Wellfleet Press. .]
Identification
The African hawk-eagle is largely allopatric from the most similar extant species of eagle, its sister species, the Bonelli's eagle. However, they may need to be distinguished in the Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
area, where minimal range overlap occurs. The Bonelli's eagle is larger and relatively broader-headed, shorter-necked, with proportionately longer wings and a shorter tail. The adult Bonelli's is much lighter and browner dorsally with usually a white patch on the mantle but no paler wing panels above. The Bonelli's eagle tends to be less contrastingly marked below, being rather creamy and lacking strong markings. The juvenile Bonelli's is a bit more similar to the juvenile African hawk-eagle but can be told apart by proportions and by being paler backed and again lacks the clear “windows” of the juvenile hawk-eagle.[ Kemp, A., & Kemp, M. (2006). ''Sasol Birds of Prey: New Edition''. Struik.] There are a few other largely black dorsally and white ventrally largish raptors in sub-Saharan Africa but the African hawk-eagle is the largest and comes the closest to being typically aquiline in bearing and morphology.[Brown, L. (1977). ''Eagles of the World''. Universe Books.] One species sometimes considered rather similar is the adult Ayres's hawk-eagle
Ayres's hawk-eagle (''Hieraaetus ayresii''), also referred to as Ayres' eagle,Newman, K (1998) Newman's Birds of Southern Africa. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers. . is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is native t ...
(''Hieraaetus ayresii'') but that hawk-eagle is smaller, more compact as well as being rounder headed. The Ayres's may show a nuchal crest and also lacks the windows seen on the wing upperside and is more evenly blotched or streaked all over the underbody, wing linings and legs. Additionally, the Ayres's hawk-eagle is less heavily darkly marked on the wings, being more spotted and splotched with black, lacking black trailing wing edges as well as the subterminal tail band of the African. Juvenile Ayres's can be similar in flight below to the juvenile African hawk-eagle but is usually paler rufous with darker quills and is generally much paler above with whitish scaling and rufous crown and mantle. Moreover, in all plumages, the Ayres's show white "landing lights", reminiscent of a booted eagle (''Hieraaetus pennatus'').[ Other raptors of a pied pattern vaguely reminiscent of the African hawk-eagle in Africa, such as the ]black sparrowhawk
The black sparrowhawk (''Accipiter melanoleucus''), sometimes known as the black goshawk or great sparrowhawk, is the largest African member of the genus ''Accipiter''.Arkive. Black goshawk (''Accipiter melanoleucus''). In: Arkive: Images of Lif ...
(''Accipiter melanoleucus''), the augur buzzard
The augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') is a fairly large African bird of prey. This species is distinct in typical adult plumage for its blackish back, whitish underside and orange-red tail, however a dark morph is known while juvenile augur buzzar ...
(''Buteo augur'') and the Cassin's hawk eagle (''Aquila africana''), are fairly obviously distinct in appearance and proportions as well as habitat.[ Of these three, the adult Cassin's is by far the most similar in structure and appearance to the African hawk-eagle but the two are mostly allopatric in distribution, with the Cassin's typically dwells in mature ]forests
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
unlike the sparser, drier wooded-savanna habitats of the African hawk-eagle. Compared to the Cassin's hawk-eagle, the African species is larger, shorted tailed and much longer winged, with a much more heavily marked underbody, denser black about the mid-wings and barely barred quills.[ At a distance, the African hawk-eagle’s flight profile can recall that of the ]European honey-buzzard
The European honey buzzard (''Pernis apivorus''), also known as the pern or common pern, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
Etymology
Despite its English name, this species is more closely related to kites of the genera '' Leptodon'' a ...
(''Pernis apivorus'') but the head is even smaller in that species. Furthermore, the wing actions and patterning of this smaller Palearctic migrant is highly different, therefore confusion with the honey-buzzard is quite unlikely.[ Even more unlikely to be confused with the African hawk-eagles even at a distance is the far larger and bulkier ]crowned eagle
The crowned eagle, also known as the African crowned eagle or the crowned hawk-eagle (''Stephanoaetus coronatus''), is a large bird of prey found in sub-Saharan Africa; in Southern Africa it is restricted to eastern areas.Sinclair & Ryan (2003) ...
(''Stephanoaetus coronatus''), which is highly distinct in colour and has relatively shorter but much broader wings.[ One other species that may be need to be distinguished in distant flight, this time from the juvenile African hawk-eagle, is the juvenile booted eagle. That species is smaller but proportionately much longer winged and shorter tailed than the juvenile African hawk-eagle. Furthermore, the booted species is barred on the tail and has completely different underwing pattern.][
]
Vocalizations
The African hawk-eagle is generally silent outside breeding season.[ Its main call is melodious fluting ''klooee''. The call is perhaps most often recorded in contact between pair members. The call is sometimes considered not unlike that of the often sympatric ]Wahlberg's eagle
Wahlberg's eagle (''Hieraaetus wahlbergi'') is a bird of prey that is native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is a seasonal migrant in the woodlands and savannas.
It is named after the Swedish naturalist Johan August Wahlberg. Like all eagles, it ...
(''Hieraaetus wahlbergi'') but that of the African hawk-eagle tends to be less drawn out and more mellow in tone. The main call may be repeated or develop into ''klu-klu-klu-kleeee'' or ''kluu-kluu-kluu'' with variations. This extended call may be given both during courtship and in moments of aggression, such as when driving away other raptors near their nest.[ Often, African hawk-eagles call on near nest including repeated ''kweeooo'' or ''ko-ko-kweroo'', which seemed to be repeated during nest construction and repair. A farther variation, a ''kwaak'', may be made by both of a pair when they are excited near the nest. A squealing ''skweeyra'' call by the female is a probable food solicitation call when she sees the male. In additional, various squawks, clucks and softer notes, sometimes being considered as “conversational” or “intimate” calls.][ Feathered eaglets tend to solicits food with a high pitched insistent ''wee-yik wee-yik, wee-yik'' call.][
]
Distribution and habitat
The African hawk-eagle is found across much of sub-Saharan Africa. The farthest north the species ranges is in eastern Eritrea and adjacent areas of Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, after a substantial gap, the range resumes almost throughout southern Ethiopia.[Ash, C. P., & Atkins, J. D. (2009). ''Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: an Atlas of Distribution''. A & C Black.] The African hawk-eagle tends to be scarce to rare in West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
with much study of the details due to their local extreme scarcity.[Borrow, N., & Demey, R. (2001). ''Birds of West Africa: an identification guide''. Helm Identification Guide Series, London.] Here the species may be found into southern Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, The Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
, Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...
, eastern Guinea, northernmost Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
, Cote d’Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...
, the northern portions of Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
and Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
and north-central Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. In central and East Africa, the range of the African hawk-eagle includes southern Chad, southern Sudan, where they tend to be fairly rare, South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...
, west Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
, the central and southern portions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
and essentially all of Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
, Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
and Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
.[Ash, J., & Miskell, J. (2020). ''Birds of Somalia''. Bloomsbury Publishing.] This species is found throughout the northern nations (within favorable habitats) of southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
including Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
, Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
, Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
, north-central Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, northern and eastern Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
and northeastern South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, north of the Orange River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
.[Penry, H. (1994). ''Bird Atlas of Botswana''. University of Kwazulu Natal Press.] The species is gone or nearly so from Eswatini, with the last confirmed breeding having been in 2002.[Monadjem, A., & Rasmussen, M. W. (2008). ''Nest distribution and conservation status of eagles, selected hawks and owls in Swaziland''. Gabar, 19, 1-22.] Despite claims of the species as far as the Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...
in South Africa, this is almost certainly due to records of vagrants and no population likely exists in southern South Africa.[
]
This is a bird of well-wooded countryside. This species tends to favor tropical broadleaf woodland and woodland edge
A woodland edge or forest edge is the transition zone (ecotone) from an area of woodland or forest to fields or other open spaces. Certain species of plants and animals are adapted to the forest edge, and these species are often more familiar to hu ...
within the savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
but does not tend to occur in true deep forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
. Additionally, African hawk-eagles can adapt to thorn
Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to:
Botany
* Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants
* ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species
Comics and literature
* Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...
bush areas such as the veld
Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Bot ...
but tends to occur moreso within riparian zone
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
s, which tend to permit the growth of strips of taller trees.[ ]Miombo
The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized b ...
and especially Mopane
''Colophospermum mopane'', commonly called mopane, mopani, balsam tree, butterfly tree, or turpentine tree, is a tree in the legume family (Fabaceae), that grows in hot, dry, low-lying areas, in elevation, in the far northern parts of southern A ...
woodland may be central to the existence of the species in southern Africa.[ As confirmed in study from ]Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
, more enclosed woodlands were avoided in favor of lower density woodlands. Overall, they tend to prefer fairly dry areas, but based on data from West Africa, Kenya and Botswana tend to prefer some moderate rainfall, with highly rainy areas such as Kenyan highlands tending to be avoided but also highly arid localities are avoided.[ Access to waterways, typically ]river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
s, including ephemeral
Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...
ones, and watering hole
A watering hole or waterhole is a geological depression in which a body of water forms, usually a pond or a small lake, where animals tend to gather to obtain water.
A watering hole is "a sunken area of land that fills with water". Watering hole ...
s, is not infrequent, especially since they permit tall trees in otherwise fairly dry regions of Africa and also often hold concentrations of prey.[Global Raptor Information Network. 2021. Species account: ''African Hawk-eagle Aquila spilogaster''. Downloaded from http://www.globalraptors.org on 27 Sep. 2021] Secondarily, they may be seen in fairly open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999
* ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001
* ''Open'' ( ...
, sparser savanna and assorted semi-desert areas whilst they generally avoid evergreen forests
An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zon ...
and mountainous areas.[ They have however been known to nest on cliff faces in ]Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
but overall this is seldom-recorded and rare for this species, unlike in the Bonelli's eagle.[ There are records of this species visiting (if not nesting in) cultivation such arables and ]pastureland
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...
and occasionally nesting in well-treed and low-disturbance plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s.[ However, this species typically seems to require protected areas to successfully propagate in.][ The African hawk-eagle has been documented from sea level to around , but mainly occurs below .][
]
Diet and Hunting
The African hawk-eagle is uncommonly aggressive and bold predator.[ Their primary hunting tool is their powerful feet.][ In general, their sneaky foraging techniques recall a huge '']Accipiter
''Accipiter'' is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. With 51 recognized species it is the most diverse genus in its family. Most species are called goshawks or sparrowhawks, although almost all New World species (excepting th ...
''.[ In terms of agility and hunting prowess, especially in terms of their short-distance flight after prey, they are also somewhat reminiscent of an ''Accipiter''. Mostly the African hawk-eagle engages in still-hunting, wherein they scan from prey from an inconspicuous perch for a long period. When prey is spotted, the hawk-eagle engages in a low level dash from their perch in cover.][ They often uses cover to cloak their approach almost up the point where they strike.][ While it has been claimed that their flight is “silent”, it would presumably be more correct to say that the hunting hawk-eagle engages in minimal flapping flight so as to not alert prey to their approach.][ Often, the hawk-eagles wait near prey-concentrated areas, such as waterholes and among riparian trees for birds to come to drink or by clearings that birds frequently cross.][ African hawk-eagles may too quarter above the ground and seize any prey they surprise.][ They are capable of sometimes taking birds on the wing but usually prefer to catch them on the ground and may force avian prey intercepted in the air back to the ground. Often terrestrial birds are taken right around the moment they alight.][ In some instances, prey may be chased, even on foot, into thickets.][ African hawk-eagles have seldom been recording engaging a stoop from soaring flight to capture prey.][ Pairs of African hawk-eagles often hunt ]together
''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi ...
and in these circumstances seem to engage in deliberate cooperation, one distracting, the other striking.[ They share this tendency for hunting in pairs with their sister species, the Bonelli's eagle, which has been implied to engage in tandem hunts possibly for sociosexual pairing reasons rather than for obtaining larger or more difficult prey, as is typically assumed of tandem-hunting raptors.][Watve, M.G., Sant, N.R. & Joshi, V. (1995). ''Why Bonelli's Eagles hunt in pair: an assessment of individual and paired hunting successes''. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 91: 355-359.] One tandem hunting pair of African hawk-eagles appeared to remarkably make use of a mesh fence to drive guineafowl
Guineafowl (; sometimes called "pet speckled hens" or "original fowl") are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched ...
into in a cunning strategy to prevent their escape.[Middleton, A. & Middleton, I. (2005). ''Adaptive hunting by African Hawk-eagles''. Honeyguide 51: 23.] Yet another pair of African hawk-eagles appears to derive much of its prey by regularly and opportunistically perching in a tree holding a fruit bat
Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats). They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genera '' Acerodon'' and ''Pteropus''—flying foxes. They are the only member of the ...
colony.
The typical prey of African hawk-eagles tends to be medium to large-sized bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s and small-to-medium-sized mammals. More seldom prey can including reptiles and insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s.[ As much as 74-86% of the diet can be comprised by birds and as much as 54-70% of the diet can be comprised by mammals.][ In general, due to a combination of factors such as habitually keeping their nest area unusually clean and tendency to often evade researcher’s attention due to hidden perch sites, the diet of African hawk-eagles is generally rather less well-known than larger African eagles nor is as well as known as the Bonelli's eagles diet (especially in Europe).][Kinahan, J. (1974). ''Observations on the Breeding of the African hawk eagle''. Mittitungen Ornithologische Arbeitsgrup, 6: 1-7.] However, what is known suggests that this is an exceptionally powerful predator and may nearly rival much larger eagles such as martial eagle
The martial eagle (''Polemaetus bellicosus'') is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa.Ferguson-Lees & Christie, ''Raptors of the World''. Houghton Mifflin Company (2001), . It is the only member of the genus ''Polemaetus''. A species of t ...
s (''Polemaetus bellicosus'') in their ability to take variably sized as well as large prey.[ A general picture has emerged that the African hawk-eagle is highly opportunistic and takes any variety of appropriately sized prey as it becomes available.][ When the habitat is locally overgrazed such as in Namibia, data suggests birds decrease in importance and mammals increase.][ When taking mammalian prey, they may select any mammal weighing usually more than of up to .][ Largish ground feeding birds, such as ]francolin
Francolins are birds in the tribe Gallini that traditionally have been placed in the genus ''Francolinus'', but now commonly are divided into multiple genera.
As previously defined, they were paraphyletic as the genus '' Pternistis'', which wa ...
s, spurfowl Spurfowl are two genera of birds:
* ''Galloperdix'', from India and Sri Lanka
* ''Pternistis
''Pternistis'' is a genus of galliform birds formerly classified in the spurfowl group of the Perdicinae, partridge subfamily of the Phasianidae, phea ...
s and guineafowl
Guineafowl (; sometimes called "pet speckled hens" or "original fowl") are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched ...
s as well as mostly the smaller species of bustard
Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bustar ...
s and hornbills, seem to be the primary prey of African hawk-eagle.[ In ]Esigodini
Esigodini, previously known as Essexvale, is a town in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe. It is the administrative centre for Umzingwane District, one of the seven administrative districts in Matabeleland South. It was originally an ...
in Zimbabwe, it was found that 74% of the diet was birds. 69% of avian prey were found to be galliforms
Galliformes is an order (biology), order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkey (bird), turkeys, chickens, Old World quail, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems ...
especially the helmeted guineafowl (''Numida meleagris''), which is of similar body size to the hawk-eagle itself, and Swainson's spurfowl
Swainson's spurfowl or Swainson's francolin (''Pternistis swainsonii'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae.
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In the ...
(''Pternistis swainsonii''), which is about half the size of a hawk-eagle, in addition to three more francolins and spurfowls.[ In the ]Matobo Hills
The Matobo National Park forms the core of the Matobo or Matopos Hills, an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some south of Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. The hills were formed over 2 billion years ago with granite being forced ...
of Zimbabwe and surrounding hilly country, the main prey by number were Natal spurfowl
The Natal spurfowl or Natal francolin (''Pternistis natalensis'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae.
It is found in Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Taxonomy
The Natal spurfowl was described in 18 ...
(''Pternistis natalensis'') at 48% of the diet but the main prey by biomass was hyraxes, at 51.3% (making up 29% by number) compared to the spurfowl which comprised 32.8% of the biomass.[Davison, B. (1998). ''Raptor communities in hill habitats in south-eastern Zimbabwe'' (Doctoral dissertation, Rhodes University).] Both Zimbabwe studies shows that African hawk-eagles would habitually take mammalian prey larger than itself, including scrub hares (''Lepus saxatilis'' ) of an estimated average of , and yellow-spotted rock hyrax
The yellow-spotted rock hyrax or bush hyrax (''Heterohyrax brucei'') is a species of mammal in the family Procaviidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ma ...
(''Heterohyrax brucei'') and rarely Cape hyrax
The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the das ...
(''Procavia capensis''), of around with weights of infrequently up to .[ Large prey was primary in ]Tsavo East National Park
Tsavo East National Park is one of the oldest and largest parks in Kenya at 13,747 square kilometres. Situated in a semi-arid area previously known as the Taru Desert it opened in April 1948, and is located near the town of Voi in the Taita- ...
, where the main prey was Kirk's dik-dik
Kirk's dik-dik (''Madoqua kirkii'') is a small antelope native to Eastern Africa and one of four species of dik-dik antelope. It is believed to have six subspecies and possibly a seventh existing in southwest Africa. Dik-diks are herbivores, typ ...
(''Madoqua kirkii''), at 35% of the diet. Due to the low volume of nest that could be found and studied, only a couple nests were examined for African hawk-eagles in Tsavo East and in these it was found that they principally took young dik-diks. Overall, the hawk-eagles estimated to take around 68 dik-diks annually in the park overall. Secondary prey in Tsavo East were red-crested korhaan
The red-crested korhaan or red-crested bustard (''Lophotis ruficrista'') is a species of bird in the family Otididae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Description
The red-creste ...
(''Lophotis ruficrista'') (at 12.7%), common dwarf mongoose
The common dwarf mongoose (''Helogale parvula'') is a mongoose species native to Angola, northern Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Zambia and East Africa. It is part of the genus ''Helogale'', along with the Ethiopian dwarf mongoose.
Ch ...
(''Helogale parvula'') (at 9.2%) and unstriped ground squirrel
The unstriped ground squirrel (''Xerus rutilus'') is a species of rodent (order Rodentia) in the family Sciuridae. It is the only member of the genus ''Xerus'' . It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and ...
(''Xerus rutilus'') and eastern yellow-billed hornbill (''Tockus flavirostris'') (both at 7.2%).[ At a small sample from a nest in Namibia, 42% of the diet was comprised by meerkat (''Suricata suricatta'').][ In the Northwest province of South Africa, the main prey were ]rock dove
The rock dove, rock pigeon, or common pigeon ( also ; ''Columba livia'') is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon".
The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domes ...
s (''Columba livia'') (23.4%), Natal spurfowl (14%), 6.5% by unidentified doves and bush squirrels and 4.8% by Cape hyrax and crested francolin
The crested francolin (''Ortygornis sephaena'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae.
It is found in southern Africa. One of its subspecies, ''Ortygornis sephaena rovuma'', is sometimes considered a separate species, Kirk's francolin.
...
s (''Ortygornis sephaena'').[Franklin, B. (2018). ''Observations, considerations and nesting behavior of the African Hawk Eagle''. NLINE Available at: http://safalconry.org/2016/05/20/observations- considerations-and-nesting-behavior-of-the-african-hawk-eagle/?i=2.] In Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
, the main prey appeared to be hornbills, with one nest found to contain 25 southern yellow-billed hornbill
The southern yellow-billed hornbill (''Tockus leucomelas'') is a hornbill found in southern Africa. Yellow-billed hornbills feed mainly on the ground, where they forage for seeds, small insects, spiders and scorpions. This hornbill species is a ...
s (''Tockus leucomelas'') and only 5 southern red-billed hornbill
The southern red-billed hornbill (''Tockus rufirostris'') is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae, which is native to the savannas and dryer bushlands of southern Africa. It is replaced by a near-relative, the Damara red-billed hornbil ...
s (''Tockus rufirostris'') while elsewhere in the Zambezi Escarpment
Zambezi Escarpment is a name used for the escarpments forming both sides of the rift valley or graben in which lie the middle Zambezi river and Lake Kariba. They are fault scarps, rising 500 to 600 m higher than the lake or river, running from t ...
, the red-billed hornbills dominated the diet.[
A small variety of different kinds of birds has been known to be taken opportunistically by African hawk-eagles.][ At times, they will prey on colonial nests of birds from weavers such as ]red-billed quelea
The red-billed quelea (; ''Quelea quelea''), also known as the red-billed weaver or red-billed dioch, is a small—approximately long and weighing —migratory, sparrow-like bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae, native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
...
s (''Quelea quelea'') to herons.[ Seemingly infrequently taken birds have been known to include ]ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There ...
chicks, geese
A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...
, plovers
Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae.
Description
There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subfa ...
, cuckoos
Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separa ...
, herons
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
and egrets
Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...
, ibises
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek wo ...
, and a small diversity of passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...
s.[ Assorted birds taken with some frequency include ]grey go-away-bird
The grey go-away-bird (''Corythaixoides concolor''), also known as grey lourie, grey loerie, or kwêvoël, is a bold and common bird of the southern Afrotropics. They are present in arid to moist, open woodlands and thorn savanna, especially near ...
s (''Crinifer concolor''), brown-necked parrots (''Poicephalus fuscicollis'') and several species of dove
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
.[ Domestic ]chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
s (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') are sometimes taken in cultivated areas by African hawk-eagles, but the species is not thought to be as much of a poultry
Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, ...
killer as it is made out to be.[ Other assorted mammals include a few species of squirrels and rats as well as ]fruit bats
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
, bushbabies
Galagos , also known as bush babies, or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They are ...
, and even those as small as Cape short-eared gerbil
The Cape short-eared gerbil (''Desmodillus auricularis'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Desmodillus''.
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
Its natural habitats are hot ...
(''Desmodillus auricularis'').[Kingdon, J., Happold, D., Butynski, T., Hoffmann, M., Happold, M., & Kalina, J. (2013). ''Mammals of Africa''. A&C Black.] Larger mammals may include species each of mongoose
A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...
to as large as the banded mongoose
The banded mongoose (''Mungos mungo'') is a mongoose species native from the Sahel to Southern Africa. It lives in savannas, open forests and grasslands and feeds primarily on beetles and millipedes. Mongooses use various types of dens for shelt ...
(''Mungos mungo'') and hare to as large as scrub hares, in many cases these may be as heavy or heavier than the hawk-eagle itself.[ Other large mammalian prey can include ]South African springhare
The South African springhare (''Pedetes capensis'') ( af, springhaas) is a medium-sized terrestrial and burrowing rodent. Despite the name, it is not a hare. It is one of two extant species in the genus '' Pedetes'', and is native to southern Afr ...
s (''Pedetes capensis'') and even small vervet monkey
The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus ''Chlorocebus''. The five distinct ...
s (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus'').[Dowsett, R. J., Aspinwall, D. R., & Dowsett-Lemaire, F. (2008). ''The Birds of Zambia: an Atlas and Handbook''. Tauraco Press.] Besides smaller antelopes like dik-dik
A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa.
Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. Dik- ...
s, the young of a few antelope are known to have been attacked by African hawk-eagles: klipspringer
The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zim ...
s (''Oreotragus oreotragus''), steenboks (''Raphicerus campestris'') and lechwe
The lechwe, red lechwe, or southern lechwe (''Kobus leche'') is an antelope found in wetlands of south-central Africa.
Range
The lechwe is native to Botswana, Zambia, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeastern Namibia, and eas ...
s (''Kobus leche''), the latter prey weighing an estimated and so perhaps the largest prey credited to the African hawk-eagle.[Unwin, M., & Tipling, D. (2018). ''The Empire of the Eagle: An Illustrated Natural History''. Yale University Press.] Predation on reptiles seems to be fairly uncommon and few such prey are definitively identified, but both colubrid
Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ev ...
snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
s and cobras are known to be included in their prey spectrum as well as lizards such as chameleons and giant plated lizard
The giant plated lizard (''Matobosaurus validus'') is a lizard in the family Gerrhosauridae, which is found in dry to mesic habitats of southern Africa. They are wary and stay close to their rocky retreats.
Physical attributes
A large lizar ...
s (''Gerrhosaurus validus'').[ One impressive reptilian prey item credited to an African hawk-eagle was a fairly large ]African rock python
The Central African rock python (''Python sebae'') is a species of large constrictor snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of 11 living species in the genus ''Python''.
Africa's largest snake ...
(''Python sebae'') seemingly taken alive, which would potential rival the largest mammalian prey in weight.[ Occasionally, this species is attributed with insect predation, usually by juveniles, but it is not clear what variety of insects are consumed. Such prey must be considered very rarely and may be often secondary ingested from the stomachs of prey such as rodents and gamebirds.][ The African hawk-eagle is rarely reported to ]scavenge
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding b ...
on carrion but one pair was seen to repeatedly feed on the carcass of a southern reedbuck
The southern reedbuck, rietbok or common reedbuck (''Redunca arundinum'') is a diurnal antelope typically found in southern Africa. It was first described by Pieter Boddaert, a Dutch physician and naturalist, in 1785. It is placed in the genus ...
(''Redunca arundinum'') over 3 days.[
]
Interspecific predatory relationships
The African hawk-eagle exists in a highly competitive region for birds of prey.[ They are obligated to share prey with both smaller and larger raptorial birds and have overlapping habitat areas with them as well.][ In Tsavo East National Park, 50% of prey was shared with ]tawny eagle
The tawny eagle (''Aquila rapax'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. Its heavily feathered legs mark it as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as booted eagles.Helbig, A. J., Kocum, ...
s (''Aquila rapax''), 37% with bateleur
The bateleur (; ''Terathopius ecaudatus'') is a medium-sized eagle in the family Accipitridae. It is often considered a relative of the snake eagles and, like them, it is classified within the subfamily Circaetinae.Kemp, A. C., G. M. Kirwan, ...
(''Terathopius ecaudatus'') and 54% with martial eagle
The martial eagle (''Polemaetus bellicosus'') is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa.Ferguson-Lees & Christie, ''Raptors of the World''. Houghton Mifflin Company (2001), . It is the only member of the genus ''Polemaetus''. A species of t ...
s. Tawny eagles and bateleurs are about 25% larger in body mass than the African hawk-eagle while the martial eagle can be around three times larger than the hawk-eagle.[ The African hawk-eagle stands as the only of the four focused-on eagles in Tsavo East to nest apart from the other eagles due to habitat use, since it is the only one to use woodland over more lightly treed savanna, probably mitigating the most fierce of the competition. All four eagles mostly preyed on Kirk's dik-diks in Tsavo East but also their nesting periods were slightly staggered with the bateleur nesting rather earlier in the year than the others on average and the African hawk-eagle on average nesting the latest, so that the primary pressure on dik-dik prey was naturally staggered.][ In the hill country of Zimbabwe, similarly the findings were that highly diverged nesting areas were used compared to other eagles, namely the primarily forest-nesting ]crowned eagle
The crowned eagle, also known as the African crowned eagle or the crowned hawk-eagle (''Stephanoaetus coronatus''), is a large bird of prey found in sub-Saharan Africa; in Southern Africa it is restricted to eastern areas.Sinclair & Ryan (2003) ...
and primarily rock-nesting Verreaux's eagle
Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the Indian black eagle (''Ictinaetus malayensis''), which lives far to t ...
. All three eagles hunted hyraxes in the hilly areas for primary prey by weight, supplemented by young antelopes for crowned eagles and gamebirds (which were primary in number) for African hawk-eagles. However, the larger eagles (both more than twice as heavy than the hawk-eagle) primarily took hyraxes taken that were usually rather bigger than those taken by hawk-eagle, normally being at least for the crowned and the Verreaux's while that was the very largest sizes hunted by the hawk-eagles. The African hawk-eagle was found to have the most diverse diet of the larger raptors of the region. Despite its staggered nesting areas from other eagles, it was evidenced in the hill country of Zimbabwe that the larger raptors such as the crowned and Verreaux's eagles are attacked rather frequently, usually during flying bouts near the territories of the African hawk-eagles.[ These findings are consistent with elsewhere, showing that larger eagles are commonly attacked by the hawk-eagles, possibly either for competitive or ]mobbing
Mobbing, as a sociological term, means bullying of an individual by a group, in any context, such as a family, peer group, school, workplace, neighborhood, community, or online. When it occurs as physical and emotional abuse in the workplace, suc ...
purposes.[ The predators for the African hawk-eagle are not known and studies have indicated that adult hawk-eagles have little to fear and may fulfill the niche of an ]apex predator
An apex predator, also known as a top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own.
Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the highest trophic lev ...
, albeit one that focuses on smaller prey typically than the considerably larger eagles it co-exists with.[ Predation on other birds of prey is rarely documented, unlike with Bonelli's eagles, but the African hawk-eagle has been known to hunt down barn owls (''Tyto alba'') and ]black-winged kite
The black-winged kite (''Elanus caeruleus''), also known as the black-shouldered kite (not to be confused with the closely-related Australian species of the same name), is a small diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae best known for it ...
s (''Elanus caeruleus'').[
]
Behaviour and Breeding
The African hawk-eagle tends to be solitary but adults frequently occur in pairs, perhaps spending more time together than is typical of many raptors.[ Breeding territories are established with aerial displays, which are fairly uninvolved compared to some related species.][ The displays are usually little more than mutual circling with intermittent calling but males sometimes uncommonly do engage in sky dances, probably only in breeding displays rather than territorial exclusion displays. During the sky dance they engage in relatively shallow undulations with steep plunges and short rises with little wing flapping. In many cases, the male will dive towards the female and the female, in turn, turns to the male and displays her claws. This mating ritual culminates in the male presenting the female with nuptial gifts in the form of prey.][ This species is typically highly monogamous and it is quite typical for adults to pair for life.][ However, a potential case of ]polygyny
Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women.
Incidence
Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...
may have occurred in Ethiopia.[ The breeding season occurs from October to April in the north of the Equator, while it is in February-June in The Gambia.][ In East Africa, the nesting season is often into April-January.][ In ]Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
, egg laying was reported in September to November with a juvenile bird seen by January.[ Down to Botswana and northeastern South Africa the nesting season is somewhat variable, recorded from April to October, with egg-laying peaking in June according to one authority.][Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. (2006). ''The Birds of Malawi. An Atlas and Handbook''. Tauraco Press.] Nesting is ultimately timed to line up with the regional dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
.[
]
Nest
The nest tends to be a very substantial platform-like structure of large sticks. It is typically located in the main fork or well out on a lateral branch of a large tree.[ The height of the nest has been recorded as being from above the ground, generally falling somewhere between .][ In southern Africa, a nest at a height of was considered unusually low.][ Common tree species used as nests are '' Acacia'', '']Adansonia
''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Trop ...
'', ''Khaya
''Khaya'' is a genus of five tree species in the mahogany family Meliaceae. The timber of ''Khaya'' is called African mahogany, and is valued as a substitute to American mahogany (of the genus ''Swietenia'').
Description
The genus is native to ...
'', ''Terminalia
Terminalia may refer to:
* Terminalia (festival), a Roman festival to the god of boundaries Terminus
* ''Terminalia'' (plant), a tree genus
* Terminalia (insect anatomy), the terminal region of the abdomen in insects
* ''Polyscias terminalia'', a ...
'' and non-native ''Eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...
''. Quite often, the nest trees are located in riparian areas.[ Rarely to exceptionally, nests may be placed elsewhere other than a tree.][ This seems to be case generally in East Africa where rare nests have been documented in a ]bush
Bush commonly refers to:
* Shrub, a small or medium woody plant
Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to:
People
* Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name
**Bush family, a prominent American family that includes:
*** ...
or on cliff ledge.[ In southern Africa sometimes nests have been placed on pylons. Nesting locations typically provide some shade but some nest sites are rather exposed, necessitating the shading of the eaglet by the female, even to a period longer than the nesting period.][ The nest itself is typically from deep or sometimes more, sometimes over with repeated additions.][ The interior cup of the nest is about with the overall nest diameter is up to about .][ Nests repairs consists of building up the rim after the previous years flattened, reinforcing by adding new layers of sticks.][ Building takes about 4 to 5 weeks and sometimes repairs as long as 8 weeks.][ It make take several months for a new nest’s construction.][ Limited observation suggests the male mate takes primary role in nest repair but the female may be more active in new nest construction.][ Females may add a majority of the fresh green leaves recorded in nests.][ The species tends to prefer a narrow breeding area with favorable habitat for nesting site, and in one extreme case the same general grove near ]Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...
was used by different generations of hawk-eagles from 1912 to 1978.[In Zimbabwe bushveld two nests were found apart, in Kruger National Park nests were estimated to be apart and in the well-wooded areas of the Matobos, nests were only apart.][
]
Eggs and incubation
The African hawk-eagle usually lays a clutch of 2 eggs. More infrequently, a clutch of 1 to 3 eggs may be laid.[ In Zambia, 46% of nests had one egg, the remainder all had 2 in a sample of 13 nests.][ However, in Malawi, 80% of 15 nests had two eggs with only the remaining 20% having one.][ As of the early 1980s, only one recorded nest in southern Africa was said to contain a 3 egg clutch.][ The eggs have a chalky white ground color with very variable markings, varying from handsomely blotched speckled with dull rust-red to quite plain to showing coalesced markings on either end.][ The eggs can measure in height, averaging , by in diameter, averaging , in sample of 123. Only particularly large eggs are said to measure over high.][ The weight of eggs is reported , averaging some .][ The eggs in a multiple egg clutch are laid at about 3 or 4 day intervals, with the incubation beginning with the first egg laying.][ The incubation stage lasts for 42-44.][ The female does most of the incubation, relieved only for short spells by males who usually bring prey for her. Male incubation can be as long as an hour but usually much shorter. Over 28 hours of observation over 9 days at 2 nests, the females of the two pairs incubated a mean of 82.6% of the time to the males’ 7.1%, while the remainder no incubation.][ Green leaves are still added by both members of the pair during incubation.][
]
Nesting and fledging stages
A chick African hawk-eagle may take just under 2 days to hatch. Newly hatched eaglets are covered in dark grey down with whitish down on abdomen and thighs, with dull yellow cere and feet. The first coat of grey gives way to thicker and whiter 2nd coat, by 2 weeks only head and back have any grey down. By 3 weeks down predominantly white only head grey, with first remiges breaking out of quills. Feather development rapid at a month old and by 5 weeks well feathered below. At 6 weeks, the eaglet will only have remaining down on head, crop and abdomen, fully feathered by a week later but for wings and tails.[ The weight of 2 days old eaglets is about , about at 9 days, at 21 days, at 28 days, at 35 days, and at 49 days.][ In terms of developmental growth, at 5 days old, nestling African hawk-eagles are just barely able to preen themselves and by 11 days can move slightly around the nest. Young eaglets spend a great deal of the day sleeping and most awake activity involves preening and feeding. Only at the age of 24 days can the chicks defend the nest, stand reasonably well and make a few rather clumsy wing exercises; however at this stage they cannot tear meat off of the food that a parent provide. When the eaglet is 32 days old it is mainly attended to for feeding, stands well and exercises wings. At 50 days of age, the chicks show signs of fledging through being able to feed themselves and through flapping their wings. Around this stage they may preen quite a lot, nibble on sticks of the nest and make mock kills of prey bones and of sticks. Some of these activities are said to improve coordination. Fledgling begins at between 60 and 70 days of age, reports of as little as 41 days for fledgling are probably dubious. Post-nesting attachment to parental care is not long for a tropical raptor, typically lasting about 3 to 4 weeks. Thereafter, the young African hawk-eagle may be seen farther afield but then again some are seen in the company of their parents for as long as 2 months after fledging.][
A 2008 study found that the first-born chick in a nest will crush, acquire more food than, and almost inevitably kill the second, smaller chick.] The smaller chick typically has little chance of survival given the size differences of the two. In one case, the younger one weighed upon hatching, when its sibling was already , in another case the weights at the corresponding ages were and .[ This is a common occurrence in many bird species, particularly predatory birds, which allows for a chick to thrive and in the unlikely event that the first chick dies, there will be the second chick to propagate the species.][ According to a 1959 study, the instinct for two chicks to fight subsides after a few weeks thus if the second chick manages to survive for that long, the chances that it will fledge will be increased. The same paper suggests that intrabrood cannibalism likely follows a ]siblicide
Siblicide (attributed by behavioural ecologist Doug Mock to Barbara M. Braun) is the killing of an infant individual by its close relatives (full or half siblings). It may occur directly between siblings or be mediated by the parents, and is dri ...
event. No cases of 2 successfully raised young were documented in southern Africa by the 1980s but two fledglings have been claimed produced in about 20% of Kenyan nests.[ The reasons for the discrepancies in the two regions is not well-understood.][
]
Parental behaviour
Parental attention may be loosely divided into three main stages: from hatching up to 2 weeks, from 2-4 weeks and from 4 weeks to fledging.[ During the first period, the female largely remains on nest and broods a great deal, while, as at most stages, the male provides prey but then again has been known to brood and feed a small eaglet. Upon the 2nd week, the eaglet(s) are not nearly as closely brooded. In the second 2-4 week period, the female is at nest much less but she usually perches in nest tree, male still provides much of the prey and the female continues to feed, and shade if necessary, the eaglet. During the 3rd stage, parental time at nest drops much farther and the female may still sleep on the nest overnight but possibly apart from eaglet. Only at very late stage does female start to catch prey for eaglet.][ Nests tend to be kept very clear; with female known to disperse pellets elsewhere and much avian prey is brought well plucked, making prey identification difficult.][ The parent African hawk-eagles are known to highly aggressive in protecting their nest and regularly dive on threatening or novel animals who approach the nest.][ Humans are not infrequently attacked around the nest and especially if climbing towards the nest, resulting in potentially painful injuries.][ The species ranks as perhaps one of the most aggressive African eagles in defending its nest against humans, alongside the crowned eagle, and is much more prone to diving at humans than nesting Bonelli's eagles.][
]
Breeding success and dispersal
In a study conducted in Zimbabwe in 1988, 116 African hawk-eagle pairs were assessed in terms of breeding success in two areas of varying substrate quality. It was found that nests were placed in flat-crowned thorn trees in areas with basaltic soils and round-crowned, rough-barked trees in areas with sandy soil. Rainfall affected breeding success, laying dates and the sizes of clutches with higher success, later laying dates and larger clutch sizes correlating with higher rainfall. More breeding attempts were made in open woodland areas than in closed however the number of resulting chicks did not differ between vegetation structure.[ The African hawk-eagle is usually a rather sedentary and stable breeding raptor, seldom leaving a devoted area holding good prey numbers and habitat.][ However, one rather unsuccessful pair was recorded to have used 4 different sites in 9 years, atypical behavior for the species.][ Usually this species is able to breed annually, unlike many other African eagles.][ For instance, at a nest site in Zimbabwe there only 2 non breeding years in 17 years, productivity overall was 0.82 young per nest per year. Other nests in Zimbabwe often failed and egg infertility was a problem, mean overall productivity was 0.54.][ In Kenya, 15 young were produced in 27 pair years, productivity of 0.56 young per pair per year.][ The mortality of young African hawk-eagles, i.e. under 4 years old, may be extremely high in some localities, up to 75%, mainly due to assorted anthropogenic causes such as persecution and collisions with manmade objects such as wires.][ Despite the reputation for being sedentary, according to a 2006 book, juveniles of this species can disperse considerably from the breeding grounds. The mean distance for African hawk-eagles from their ringing as nestlings to recovery was in southern Africa. Similarly an adult hawk-eagle found dead in the Matobos was only away from its natal site.][ However, one ringed hawk-eagle was found to have moved a distance of from ]Limpopo
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...
in South Africa to Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls ( Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "The Smoke That Thunders"; Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and anim ...
on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, perhaps as a response to a prolonged dry spell
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
and resulting diminishing food resources.[
]
Status
The African hawk-eagle has a very wide range and is a relatively common species. No particular threats have been identified but the population is thought to be declining slowly. The International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...
has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
". BirdLife International estimated the total number of adults at around 100,000 birds, but that the supporting data are poor. In the former Transvaal province
The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...
of South Africa the population of hawk-eagles was thought to be about 1,600 pairs, while overall in the southern African region an extrapolated total number of about 7,000 pairs was estimated.[ A 2006 study found that the African hawk eagle, among other raptor species have been declining at high rates outside of protected areas in West Africa and only seem to be stabilizing through the efforts of national parks. When numbers from 2003 to 2004 are compared to 1969-1973 in West Africa, it is found that numbers have declined even in protected areas. Overall negative population trends have also been detected for some time in southern Africa.][ Despite claims that declines in Malawi are due to persecution of the African hawk-eagle as a poultry thief, the much stronger cause is likely to be the pervasive ]destruction
Destruction may refer to:
Concepts
* Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger
* Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism
* Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kin ...
of woodlands.[ The declines are strong enough in southern Africa for the species to be thought to be extinct as breeding in Eswatini.][Monadjem, A. (2003). ''Threatened vertebrates of Swaziland: Swaziland red data book: fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals''. Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Communications.]
References
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q387221
African hawk-eagle
The African hawk-eagle (''Aquila spilogaster'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. This species’ feathered legs mark it as a member of the Aquilinae subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamauf ...
African hawk-eagle
The African hawk-eagle (''Aquila spilogaster'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. This species’ feathered legs mark it as a member of the Aquilinae subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamauf ...
Birds of prey of Sub-Saharan Africa
African hawk-eagle
The African hawk-eagle (''Aquila spilogaster'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. This species’ feathered legs mark it as a member of the Aquilinae subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamauf ...
African hawk-eagle
The African hawk-eagle (''Aquila spilogaster'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. This species’ feathered legs mark it as a member of the Aquilinae subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamauf ...
Birds of East Africa