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The bateleur (; ''Terathopius ecaudatus'') is a medium-sized
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, just ...
in 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 ...
. It is often considered a relative of the
snake eagle ''Circaetus'', the snake eagles, is a genus of medium-sized eagles in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. They are mainly resident African species, but the migratory short-toed snake eagle breeds from the Mediterranean basin into Russia, the ...
s and, like them, it is classified within the subfamily
Circaetinae Circaetinae is a bird of prey subfamily which consists of a group of medium to large broad-winged species. These are mainly birds which specialise in feeding on snakes and other reptiles, which is the reason most are referred to as "snake-eagles ...
.Kemp, A. C., G. M. Kirwan, and D. A. Christie (2020). ''Bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus)'', 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. It is the only member of the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Terathopius'' and may be the origin of the "
Zimbabwe Bird The stone-carved Zimbabwe Bird is the national emblem of Zimbabwe, appearing on the national flags and coats of arms of both Zimbabwe and Rhodesia, as well as on banknotes and coins (first on the Rhodesian pound and then on the Rhodesian dollar). ...
", the national emblem of
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 Mozam ...
. Adult bateleurs are generally black in colour with a chestnut colour on the mantle as well as also on the rump and tail. Adults also have gray patches about the leading edges of the wings (extending to the secondaries in females) with bright red on their cere and their feet. Adults also show white greater coverts, contrasting with black remiges in males, gray patches on the underwing primaries and black wingtips. The juvenile bateleur is quite different, being largely drab brown with a bit of paler feather scaling. All bateleurs have extremely large heads for their size, rather small bills, large feet, relatively short legs, long, bow-like wings and uniquely short tails, which are much smaller still on adults compared to juvenile birds.Hockey, P.A.R.; Dean, W.R.J. and Ryan, P.G. 2016. Roberts VII Birds of Southern Africa. John Voelcker Book Fund. This species is native to broad areas of
Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
and scarcely up into
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
. It is characteristically a bird of somewhat open habitats such as
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 ...
with some trees present and open dry
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 (see ...
. It is in life history, a rather peculiar bird of prey with a free-wheeling
generalist A generalist is a person with a wide array of knowledge on a variety of subjects, useful or not. It may also refer to: Occupations * a physician who provides general health care, as opposed to a medical specialist; see also: ** General pract ...
diet that includes much
carrion Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
but also tends to hunt a wide range of live prey, including many small to unexpectedly relatively large
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s and
reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...
s along with generally relatively small
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 lightweigh ...
s.Steyn, P. (1983). ''Birds of prey of southern Africa: Their identification and life histories''. Croom Helm, Beckenham (UK). 1983. Bateleurs are highly aerial birds that spend much time soaring and will frequently flight with exaggerated embellishments, perhaps when excited or angered.Watson, R. T. (1989). ''Aggressive display and territoriality of the bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus''. African Zoology, 24(2), 146-150. They tend to build a relatively small if sturdy stick nest in a large tree and lay only a single egg. Despite being a rather aggressive bird in other contexts, bateleurs are easily flushed from their own nest, making them exceptionally vulnerable to nest predators, including humans, and nest failures.Herholdt, J. J., Kemp, A. C., & Du Plessis, D. (1996). ''Aspects of the breeding status and ecology of the Bateleur and Tawny Eagle in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, South Africa''. Ostrich, 67(3-4), 126-137. It may take as long as 7 to 8 years to attain full maturity, perhaps the longest stretch to maturity of any raptor. This species has long been known to be declining rather pronouncedly in overall population and it is mostly confined to
protected areas Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
today.Brown, L. & Amadon, D. (1986). ''Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World''. The Wellfleet Press. .Thiollay, J. M. (2007). ''Raptor declines in West Africa: comparisons between protected, buffer and cultivated areas''. Oryx, 41(3), 322-329.Garbett, R., Herremans, M., Maude, G., Reading, R. P., & Amar, A. (2018). ''Raptor population trends in northern Botswana: A re-survey of road transects after 20 years''. Biological Conservation, 224, 87-99. Currently the
IUCN 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 natu ...
classifies the bateleur as an
Endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
due primarily to
anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Counterintuitively, anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human im ...
causes such as
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
,
pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
usage and
persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
.


Taxonomy and etymology

The bateleur has been found to be a proper member of the subfamily
Circaetinae Circaetinae is a bird of prey subfamily which consists of a group of medium to large broad-winged species. These are mainly birds which specialise in feeding on snakes and other reptiles, which is the reason most are referred to as "snake-eagles ...
, commonly called snake or serpent eagles, via a variety of genetic studies.Global Raptor Information Network. 2021. Species account: ''Bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus''. Downloaded from http://www.globalraptors.org on 7 Oct. 2021. Given the outward similarities of the bateleur to snake eagles, the relationship has long been inferred by authors. In particular, the bateleur was suggested to have their closest living relations in the similarly large ''
Circaetus ''Circaetus'', the snake eagles, is a genus of medium-sized eagles in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. They are mainly resident African species, but the migratory short-toed snake eagle breeds from the Mediterranean basin into Russia, the M ...
'' snake eagles.Sibley, C. G., & Monroe, B. L. (1990). ''Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world''. Yale University Press. This relationship was well borne-out by a genetic study that found that this species and the
short-toed snake eagle The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus na ...
(''Circaetus gallicus'') form a
monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
, based on
nucleotide sequences A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases signified by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. By convention, sequences are usu ...
in the cytochrome ''b''
gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
.Wink, M., & Sauer-Gürth, H. (2000). ''Advances in the molecular systematics of African raptors''. Raptors at risk, 135147. Even though, when contrasted with snake eagles, bateleurs appear to differ greatly in plumage patterns, the two genera show certain similarities in food, feeding behavior, and breeding biology. However, Lerner and Mindell (2005), based on the molecular sequence from two
mitochondrial gene Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
s and one nuclear intron, indicated a previously unsuspected close relationship of the bateleur with similarly “aberrant” but extremely different, in nearly every respect of appearance and life history, member of the Circaetinae, the
Philippine eagle The Philippine eagle (''Pithecophaga jefferyi''), also known as the monkey-eating eagle or great Philippine eagle, is a critically endangered species of eagle of the family Accipitridae which is endemic to forests in the Philippines. It has br ...
(''Pithecophaga jefferyi'').Lerner, H. R., & Mindell, D. P. (2005). ''Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA''. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 37(2), 327-346.
Chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...
banding studies have also found a relatively recent genetic relationship of the bateleurs with the
Old World vulture Old World vultures are vultures that are found in the Old World, i.e. the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and which belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, buzzards, kites, and hawks. Old World vultures are not clos ...
s. The common name of "''Bateleur''" is
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
for "street performer". Meanwhile, the
scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
is from name ''teras'' (
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
) for “marvelous”; ''ops'' (Greek) for “face”; ''e'' (
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
) for “without”; ''caudatus'' (Latin) “tail”. The bird was given its common name by
François Levaillant François Levaillant (born Vaillant, later in life as Le Vaillant, ''"The Valiant"'') (6 August 1753 – 22 November 1824) was a French author, explorer, naturalist, zoological collector, and noted ornithologist. He described many new species of ...
, a French naturalist and explorer. The original scientific name was '' Falco ecaudatus'', given by
François Marie Daudin François Marie Daudin (; 29 August 1776 in Paris – 30 November 1803 in Paris) was a French zoologist. With legs paralyzed by childhood disease, he studied physics and natural history, but ended up being devoted to the latter. Daudin wrote ' ( ...
, as the concept of disparate genera between birds of prey was devised later on (nor were
falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...
s then known to be unrelated to many other variety of diurnal birds of prey).


Description

The bateleur is of note for its unique morphology and plumage, with some anatomical similarities to both snake eagles and
vultures A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and So ...
. The species has a thick neck and a very large, rather conspicuously
cowl A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks. Originally it may have referred simply to the hooded portion of a cloak. In contemporary usage, however, it is distinguished from a clo ...
ed head with a proportionately short bill, albeit one covered with a very large cere. The cowl is also present on snake eagles but in those it is less dramatically apparent. The other features in perched adult bateleurs are rather oddly stumpy, such as the short legs and exceptionally short tail, possibly the shortest proportionately of all raptors.Clark, B., & Davies, R. (2018). ''African Raptors''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Its posture while perched is extremely upright, making them look like quite a tall raptor on the ground despite its rather short legs. Even while perched, the body tends to be dominated by their exceptionally large wings, which possess some 25 secondary feathers, perhaps more than any other raptor. The adult bateleur usually has a chestnut coloration along the mantle, back, rump and tail, including the undertail coverts. The adult male bateleur is predominantly black with grey shoulders, which appear edged with white when freshly
moulted In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...
. The adult female differs by having grey-brown, not black, on the greater coverts and black-tipped grey, not black, secondaries. Furthermore up to 7% of adults have a "cream morph" where they have chestnut tails but the other chestnut areas are almost fully replaced by cream to pale brown coloring. The cream morph may reportedly be slightly more prevalent in drier areas.Newman, K (1998). ''Newman's Birds of Southern Africa''. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers. . The bare parts of adult bateleurs are exceptionally conspicuous, with the adult cere, bare facial skin and feet all being rather bright red, however in some they can also temporarily fade to pink, pale pink or yellowish at times, such as when they are perching in the shade or bathing. The bare parts flush the most red during times of excitement. The
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
itself is black bill with a yellow centre and red base. The eyes are dark brown. The juvenile is very distinct from the adults of the species. Juveniles of the bateleur have a longer tail than mature birds. They furthermore have essentially all brown coloring, with dull rufous to creamy edging apparent on some areas. The head of the juvenile bateleur is paler and tawnier than elsewhere on its body while the eyes are brown, the cere a rather unique greenish-blue and the feet whitish in colour.Zimmerman, D. A., Pearson, D. J., & Turner, D. A. (2020). ''Birds of Kenya and northern Tanzania''. Bloomsbury Publishing.BirdLife International (2019) Species factsheet: ''Terathopius ecaudatus''. Downloaded fromhttp://www.birdlife.org on 29/07/2019. At as late as 2–3 years of age, the immature bateleur is still much the same in appearance as the juvenile but by the fourth year becomes more sooty-brown, with
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 ani ...
already evidenced by the more extensive dark wing markings of males. In the 5th year, the plumage may show the first signs of chestnut and the grey colour about back and shoulders tend to manifest. Also from 3–5 years old, the cere and feet turn yellow then to dull-pink. By the 6th and 7th years of life, the plumage of subadult bateleurs blackens and the chestnut portions of the plumage increase. The shoulders become fully grey by the 8th year, the likely age of maturity.Brown, L. H., & Cade, T. J. (1972). ''Age classes and population dynamics of the Bateleur and African Fish Eagle''. Ostrich, 43(1), 1-16. As for the bare parts in juvenile bateleurs, the cere and facial skin are a distinct pale grey-blue to green-blue. The juvenile’s feet are greenish-white to greyish-white, at 4-5 the cere, facial skin and feet turn yellow, then pink before finally reddening. The eyes are similar in hue to those of adult bateleurs but are a slightly lighter, being more honey-brown, while the bill of juveniles are mainly pale grey-blue in colour. In flight, the bateleur appears as a rather large raptor with disproportionately elongated, rather narrow and slightly bow-shaped wings, which appear pinched in at the bases, broad across the secondaries and regularly narrow, pointed and upturned at the tips. Upon sighting, the wings often catch the eye before the large head, which is proportionately slightly bigger even than their cousins, the snake eagles.Kemp, A., & Kemp, M. (2006). ''Sasol Birds of Prey: New Edition''. Struik. The tail is so short in adult bateleurs that the feet extend below the tail tip, almost giving the impression that the raptor nearly has no tail. This is as opposed to juveniles, where the feet come up about short of the tail tip, with the feet coming to exceed the tail, which is shrinking via moults, in length around the 5th year of maturation. The adult bateleur’s wingspan is an extraordinary 2.9 times greater than its total length. The adult male bateleur is mostly black above with a chestnut back and tail and grey forewings, below he is black on the body, contrasting with a chestnut tail, as well as with the white wing linings and black flight feathers except for the greyish based primaries. The adult female bateleur is similar in plumage to the male overall but differs in her black-tipped grey secondaries above and more extensively white underwings with the black on the female confined to the wingtips and trailing edges. The juvenile bateleur on the wing appears broader winged and especially longer tailed with a largely uniform brown coloration, including the greater coverts, with paler feather mainly about the head as well as on the flight feathers.


Size

The bateleur is a mid-sized eagle and large raptor. It is likely the second heaviest of the
Circaetinae Circaetinae is a bird of prey subfamily which consists of a group of medium to large broad-winged species. These are mainly birds which specialise in feeding on snakes and other reptiles, which is the reason most are referred to as "snake-eagles ...
subfamily of accipitrids. By far the largest of the subfamily is the
Philippine eagle The Philippine eagle (''Pithecophaga jefferyi''), also known as the monkey-eating eagle or great Philippine eagle, is a critically endangered species of eagle of the family Accipitridae which is endemic to forests in the Philippines. It has br ...
which is well over twice as massive and is far larger in all aspects of measurement than the bateleur, with a drastically differing structure (broad, relatively short wings, very long legs and tail). One traditional snake eagle, the
brown snake eagle The brown snake eagle (''Circaetus cinereus'') is a fairly large species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found in West, East and southern Africa. This species is an almost obligate predator of a variety of snakes. A very solitar ...
('' Circaetus cinereus''), rivals the bateleur in most aspects of size including body mass but possesses a rather longer tail and slightly shorter but broader wings. Additionally, the widespread and slightly broader-winged
short-toed snake eagle The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus na ...
and proportionately long and slender-winged
black-breasted snake eagle The black-chested snake eagle or black-breasted snake eagle (''Circaetus pectoralis'') is a large African bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. It resembles other snake eagles and was formerly considered conspecific with the short-toed and B ...
(''Circaetus pectoralis'') can be nearly as large in wingspan as the bateleur but tend to be somewhat less heavy. The total length of the bateleur is .Sinclair, I., Hockey, P., Tarboton, W., Ryan, P., & Perrins, N. (2020). ''Sasol birds of Southern Africa''. Penguin Random House South Africa. Typical length of a full-grown bird is around . The wingspan of bateleurs can vary from . Body mass of bateleurs can vary from .Clark, W. S. (1999). ''A Field Guide to the raptors of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa''. Oxford University Press, USA. One sample of 10 unsexed bateleurs weighed an average of while a smaller sample of three weighed an average of . Additionally, a median body mass of was cited in one study.Shaw, P., Kibuule, M., Nalwanga, D., Kaphu, G., Opige, M., & Pomeroy, D. (2019). ''Implications of farmland expansion for species abundance, richness and mean body mass in African raptor communities''. Biological conservation, 235, 164-177. The bateleur evidences some
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 ani ...
in favour of the female as is expected in raptorial birds but this size difference is fairly minimal relative to many other accipitrids, averaging up to about 6%. Among standard measurements, males have a wing chord length of while that of the female is . In
tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, r ...
length, adult males measure and can be even shorter in adult females at , in some cases the adult’s tail may reportedly measure as short as . This contrasts with the tail of juvenile bateleurs which measures . The tarsus can measure from in males and in females. Unsexed adult bateleurs 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 ...
were found to average in wing chord length, with a range of in culmen length and a relatively small hind claw length of . While the hind or hallux claw is usually the most enlarged in most species of accipitrid, on the other hand in the Tsavo East bateleurs, unusually the middle claw on the front of the foot was slightly larger at . Notably the proportions of bateleurs are similar to snake eagles with robust feet with rough, thick skin and short talons, the bateleur in particular having very thick, large toes structurally almost like those of a big
owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
and very sharp talons reminiscent in sharpness of highly predaceous larger African raptors. Further like snake eagles, bateleurs have a rather large headed but with a smallish beak coupled with a large gape. These adaptations generally equip the subfamily to better handle and ingest snakes relative to other accipitrids.Smeenk, C. (1974). ''Comparative-ecological studies of some East African birds of prey''. Ardea 62 (1-2) : 1-97.Steyn, P. (1965). ''Some observations on the bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus (Daudin)''. Ostrich, 36(4), 203-213.


Identification

The bateleur, particularly in its adult plumage, is often considered one of the most distinctive raptors in the world.Unwin, M., & Tipling, D. (2018). ''The Empire of the Eagle: An Illustrated Natural History''. Yale University Press. When perched or flying adults or older immatures are quite unmistakable. The bateleur can be readily be distinguished even by inexperienced observers from the very differently-shaped and usually rather smaller-bodied and winged
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 ...
s (''Buteo augur'') and
jackal buzzard The jackal buzzard (''Buteo rufofuscus'') is a fairly large African bird of prey. The taxonomy of this species has caused some confusion in the past and it almost certainly belongs in a species complex with other African ''Buteo'' species. Some ...
s (''Buteo rufofuscus''). These do not overlap with bateleurs in nearly all respects of morphology, proportions nor flight actions. Nonetheless, both of these buzzards are sometimes mistaken for bateleurs due to their own combinations of black, white and chestnut, which are completely differently composed than those of the bateleur. Despite how distinctive the buzzards are from the bateleur, some reports of bateleurs from areas where they are currently gone are almost certain to have been misidentified jackal buzzards. Juveniles and immatures of up to 2–3 years old are hardly less distinctive in shape but could be confused, largely due to similar proportions of their large head, brown plumage and whitish legs with certain snake eagles. The
brown snake eagle The brown snake eagle (''Circaetus cinereus'') is a fairly large species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found in West, East and southern Africa. This species is an almost obligate predator of a variety of snakes. A very solitar ...
is perhaps the most similar to the juvenile bateleur but it has yellow eyes, longer legs, much broader, shorter and differently shaped wings with the tips of wings reaching its banded tail. Even the black-chested and the rather slight
Beaudouin's snake eagle Beaudouin's snake eagle (''Circaetus beaudouini'') is a species of snake eagle in the family Accipitridae found in the Sahel region of west Africa. It forms a superspecies with the Palearctic short-toed snake eagle ''Circaetus gallicus'' and the ...
(''Circaetus beaudouinii'') are sometimes considered potentially confusable with juvenile bateleurs, but both of these respective species are rather uniform and darker brown ventrally and about the head and much paler dorsally, with a highly different contrasting whitish cream colour below.


Vocalizations

Bateleurs are usually silent for much of the year. The main call, uttered whether perched or in aerial display, or when pirating from other raptors, is a far-carrying, loud raucous ''schaaaa-aw''. They may too vocalize in a similar manner during courtship. Alternatively, bateleur calls may consist of resonant barking calls, ''kow-aw''. The barking call can be accompanied by half-spread wings and jerking of the body up and down or may too be uttered in flight, the latter in a similar manner to that of a
fish eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...
. Distraction display are sometimes accompanied by subdued barking chatter, ''ka-ka-ka-ka''.... A not dissimilar call of ''kau-kau-kau-koaagh-koaggh'' has been described as given by perched birds. Other softer calls are uttered when perched near the nest. The young of the bateleur tend to engage harsh squealing call is ''kyup-kyup keeaw keeaw'', usually as a hunger call at approach of parent with food. Also the species’ young may make a melodious ''twip'' call.


Distribution and habitat

The bateleur occupies a very large range through mainly sub-Saharan Africa.Allan, D. (1996). ''A Photographic Guide to Birds of Prey of Southern, Central and East Africa''. Cape Town: New Holland Publishers. . The species resides 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, Maurit ...
from southern
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
to
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 ) ...
,
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
, the northern portions of
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 , Sierra ...
,
Ivory Coast 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 ...
and much 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 ...
through western
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 ...
, much of
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 north ...
and northern and 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 ...
.Borrow, N., & Demey, R. (2001). ''Birds of West Africa: an Identification Guide''. Helm Identification Guide Series, London.Cheke, R. A., & Walsh, J. F. (1996). ''The Birds of Togo: an Annotated Check-list (No. 14)''. British Ornithologists' Union. It is possibly
extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
in Mauritania, range restricted in Guinea (mainly to
Kiang West Kiang West is one of the six districts of the Lower River Division of the Gambia. Along with Kiang Central and Kiang East, it makes up the Kiang The kiang (''Equus kiang'') is the largest of the ''Asinus'' subgenus. It is native to the Tibetan ...
) and Liberia but is still locally common where good habitat remains elsewhere in this region.Isenmann, P., Benmergui, M., Browne, P., Ba, A. D., Diagana, C. H., Diawara, Y., & El Abidine ould Sidaty, Z. (2010). ''Birds of Mauritania/Oiseaux de Mauritanie''. Société d’Études Ornithologiques de France, Paris. Similarly far north, a rare population is believed to persist out of Africa in extreme southwestern
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and western
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. In central and east Africa, the bateleur may be found in northern
Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
, southern
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesChad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
, southern
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
,
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 C ...
, northern
Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
,
Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
,
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 ...
,
Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
, western
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 ...
, northern, eastern and southern
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 a majority of
Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
,
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 and ...
.Ash, C. P., & Atkins, J. D. (2009). ''Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: an Atlas of Distribution''. A&C Black.Ash, J., & Miskell, J. (2020). Birds of Somalia. Bloomsbury Publishing.Carswell, M., Pomeroy, D. E., Reynolds, J. & Tushabe H. (2005). ''Bird Atlas of Uganda''. London: British Ornithologists' Union and British Ornithological Club. In
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 of ...
, the bateleur is found quite widely, being found almost throughout, where habitat is favorable,
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 Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
,
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 Mozam ...
,
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 northeast ...
and
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 ...
. Additionally, they may range
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 Kalahar ...
in all but southernmost portion also being found still in northern and eastern
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 ...
and northwestern
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, where its range has contracted considerably from as far south once 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 ...
to almost entirely to being found exclusively within
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
s 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 ...
excepting a portion of
Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
.Dean, W. R. J. (2000). ''The Birds of Angola: an Annotated Checklist''. BOU Checklist No. 18.Dowsett, R. J., Aspinwall, D. R., & Dowsett-Lemaire, F. (2008). ''The Birds of Zambia: an Atlas and Handbook''. Tauraco Press.Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R. J. (2006). ''The Birds of Malawi. An Atlas and Handbook''. Tauraco Press.Penry, H. (1994). ''Bird Atlas of Botswana''. University of Kwazulu Natal Press.Irwin, M. P. S. (1981). ''The Birds of Zimbabwe''. Quest Pub.Watson, R. T. (1983). Range reduction of the Bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus and the development of agriculture in South Africa. In Proceedings of the Bird and Man symposium. Witwatersrand Bird Club, Johannesburg. The species is possibly extirpated from
Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
in southern Africa.Monadjem, A., & Rasmussen, M. W. (2008). ''Nest distribution and conservation status of eagles, selected hawks and owls in Swaziland''. Gabar, 19, 1-22. The bateleur is regarded as a vagrant in the countries of
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
and rarely
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. In April 2012 a juvenile bateleur was seen in Algeciras in southern Spain.


Habitat

The bateleur is a common to fairly common resident or nomadic bird of the partially open
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 ...
country and of
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 (see ...
within Sub-Saharan Africa. During breeding, it tends to require closed-canopy savannah-woodland habitats, including
Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
savanna as well as
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 ...
and
miombo woodland 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 ...
s. They may too acclimate to
thornveld 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 Botswa ...
and overall various fairly
shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
by areas. It tends to rarely occur in heavily
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' ...
ed and
mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
habitats. However, while the species can forage extensively in largely treeless habitats such as treeless savanna but is nearly as rare in pure
desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
lacking arborescent growth as it is in
tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...
s.Simmons, R. E., and C. J. Brown. "Bateleur ''Terathopius ecaudatus''." ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds'' 1 (1997): 202-203. Bateleurs are seldom to be found around extensive
wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s but may regularly be found near watering holes. Although often in fairly dry savanna habitats, in Kenya it is reportedly absent from areas where the rainfall is under annually, probably because it limits the growth of the leafy trees that they require for nesting. In Ethiopia, it tends to be associated with well-wooded areas. Habitat tends to be most closely studied in southern Africa. It is mostly common found in broad-leaved woodland in the
Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...
in Botswana. In Namibia it is often found over tall woodland near drainage lines, and over
ephemeral river A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ar ...
s in north-eastern Namibia and within the more arid
Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...
. In Zambia, it is found in a variety of habitats from woodlands to open plains but avoids the most densely wooded areas. Reportedly in Malawi, it is often associated with
Forest–savanna mosaic Forest–savanna mosaic is a transitory ecotone between the tropical moist broadleaf forests of Equatorial Africa and the drier savannas and open woodlands to the north and south of the forest belt. The forest–savanna mosaic consists of drier f ...
s but is sometimes regularly seen over cultivated areas and even may be seen flying over large cities. To the contrary, in Mozambique it is said to avoid areas with a dense human population.Parker, V. (2005). ''The Atlas of the Birds of central Mozambique''. Endangered Wildlife Trust and the Avian Demography Unit. The species can occur from sea level up to , but not normally a mountain-dwelling species and mainly occurs below . This is supported in Zimbabwe, where the bateleur is relatively common but appears to largely avoid the extensive amount of hilly and rugged areas present in that country.


Behaviour

This bateleur is unusually conspicuous due to its propensity for gliding flights over favorable habitats in much of Africa. The bird spends a considerable amount of time on the wing, particularly in low-altitude flights. Due to the conspicuous behaviour and colorful plumage, the bateleur is frequently described in superlatives such as "one of the most beautiful and spectacular things that flies". This species tends to take off with unusually fast, shallow beats for a bird of this relative large size. After take-off, the bateleur sails at a mean speed of about . They often rock from side-to-side with the wings held in a strong dihedral with very limiting flapping, vaguely recalling the flight of the American
turkey vulture The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus ''Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South ...
(''Cathares aura'') although the flight is generally more forceful, fast and acrobatic than that species and at times can be evocative of a huge
falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...
. Although the species tends to fly fairly low, bateleurs can soar and circle quite high as well. Engaged in its aforementioned dihedral flight it is often cants continuously from side-to-side, likely the origin of which it was given its common name (loosely "tumbler", "balancer" or “tightrope walker") of French derivation. Various flying embellishments may be undertaken nearly aseasonally. Although not typically given to forward somersault nor to loop-the-loop, bateleurs may with some regularity perform a rapid 360 degrees sideways roll. They are often given to flying with more embellishments when in the presence of another bateleur, even with juveniles provoking one another entirely uncoupled seemingly from breeding courtship or territorial displays. Typical home ranges of around were reported per pair in
Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
and these were considered unusually small by overall species standards. Intruders to whom this behaviour is displayed always submit and submission is shown by retreating to a safe upper boundary (elevation). Males and females both display this behaviour in all stages of the breeding cycle. This behaviour is mainly shown to members of the same sex and particularly to non-adults, as it is thought that they may have a greater ability to take over another bird's territory (having greater competitive ability for limited food resources). The bateleur is generally a solitary bird. However, juveniles may accompany one or both parents for about three months and loose congregations of as many as 40-50 or more have been record of mainly immatures. These tend to be aggregations of otherwise unassociated immature bateleurs attracted to rich feeding areas such as newly-discovered
carrion Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
,
bush fires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
, recently burnt areas or temporary
floods A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
and occasionally by
termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...
emergences. In the wild bateleurs are shy of man and sensitive to disturbance at the nest, easily abandoning the structure. In captivity, however, they becomes unusually tame. Bateleur eagles are among a group of raptors that secrete a clear, salty fluid from their nares whilst eating. According to Schmidt-Nielson's 1964 hypothesis, this is due to the general necessity for birds to use an extrarenal mechanism of salt secretion to aid water reabsorption.


Nomadism and dispersals

Generally, as in most raptors found as breeding residents in Africa, the bateleur is considered sedentary and territorial but it is a species that requires very large home ranges. However, in general the species neither as staunchly residential nor sedentary as many other Sub-Saharan African raptors.Watson, R. T. (1990). ''Population dynamics of the Bateleur in the Kruger National Park''. Ostrich, 61(1-2), 5-12. Both immature and sometimes adult bateleurs are considered clearly
nomadic A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
. At times, the bateleur is even regarded as an “irruptive or local migrant”. Some regular north-to-south movements may occur 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, Maurit ...
and may occur transequatorially in East Africa to avoid heavy rains. In Kruger, immatures are driven out by adults on territory during the breeding season and then often wander widely before returning for the non-breeding season. Recoveries of juveniles in southern Africa show that individuals have been recovered at assorted distances from their nests of origin ranging from as far as away. It was noted that in some cases, heavier rainfall may have caused farther afield dispersals.Oatley, T. B., Oschadleus, H. D., Navarro, R. A. & Underhill, L. G. (1998). ''Review of ring recoveries of birds of prey in southern Africa: 1948–1998''. Endangered Wildlife Trust, Johannesburg.


Thermoregulation

Bateleurs seem to devote an exceptional amount of time to
thermoregulation Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...
frequently spending much of its day variously sunning, to warm up, and
bathing Bathing is the act of washing the body, usually with water, or the immersion of the body in water. It may be practiced for personal hygiene, religious ritual or therapeutic purposes. By analogy, especially as a recreational activity, the term is ...
, to cool off. These eagles are frequently seen to enter water-bodies for a bath and then open their wings to often sunbathe. Standing upright and holding their wings straight out to the sides and tipped vertically, a classic 'phoenix' pose as they turn to follow the sun. Bateleurs will stand on the ground with their wings spread, exposing the feathers to direct sunlight, warming the oils in the feathers. The bird will then spread the oils with its beak to improve its aerodynamics. In some countries, local nicknames of the species may include as the "
Conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
eagle" or "
Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
eagle" due to its feathers resembling a conifer cone when fluffed up and engaging in thermoregulatory behaviour. At times, this is described as a “striking heraldic posture”. Bateleurs may also be seen "praying" allowing ants to crawl over the wings and feathers, collecting bits of food, dead feather and skin material. When covered in ants, the bateleur then ruffles its feathers, startling the ants, which react by secreting
formic acid Formic acid (), systematically named methanoic acid, is the simplest carboxylic acid, and has the chemical formula HCOOH and structure . It is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in some ants. Es ...
as self-defence. This in turn kills the ticks and fleas, possibly ridding the host of its parasites.


Dietary biology

The bateleur is a dietary generalist. This species generally forages from flight, flying mostly low and straight whilst scanning the ground, periodically banking and retracing section of track when possible foods are spotted. Their hunting range can be truly enormous ranging in some cases up to . Bateleurs may spend up to 8–9 hours or up to 80% of daylight on the wing, perhaps largely for hunting and foraging purposes, and have reported to have even covered as much as in a single day. When potential prey or food is spotted, they then descend in tight spirals to check it out. The bateleur is a very effective discoverer of
carrion Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
at all times and often is the first to come to large carcasses or
roadkill Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...
s. Juveniles appear to attend large carrion much more than adults and dietary studies appear to support that carrion is rather more significant to the foods of juvenile and immature bateleurs compared to adults. Despite an aptitude for
scavenging 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 be ...
, descriptions of this eagle as “not a very rapacious species” are erroneous as it has been found to a highly powerful predator for its size and one that is often rather active at pursuing living prey, with seemingly most food consumed during the breeding season being prey that the bateleur has itself killed. Bateleurs kill most prey on the ground with a steep stoop on partially closed wings. On evidence, they may alter their stoop onto prey with a slow drop with raised wings, rather in a gentle descent like a
parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
, largely when taking slower moving prey such as some reptiles.Watson, R.T. (1986). ''Biology, ecology and population dynamics of the Bateleur''. Ph.D. dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.Watson, R. T. (2000). ''Flight, foraging and food of the Bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus: an aerodynamically specialized, opportunistic forager''. Raptors at Risk, 65-75. Additionally, they can also take birds on the wing. As occasional kleptoparasites, they sometimes aerially pirate foods from other raptors. Alternately, they may try to intercept other raptor’s kills while the raptor is feeding on them, whether it be on the ground, in tree or on a rock or even immediately after the kill is made. These piratical attacks are sometimes carried out against large carrion eaters like vultures and even against larger eagles, and in them they may drive their target to the ground, with interlocking talons or trading shallow blows with their feet. Bateleurs too hunt
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 pairs ...
s by walking on the ground, particularly after grassfires and will patrol for small carcasses alongside roads. Bateleurs forage almost entirely based on opportunity and have no particular specialization on any particular prey type. As a result, a wide prey spectrum has been reported, with around 160 prey species known, they thus rival
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'') and perhaps just slightly behind
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'') as the most diversified feeder known among African eagles. Among their prey,
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s,
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 lightweigh ...
s and
reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...
s, roughly in that order, seem to be considerably preferred over other prey taxon. Based on morphology, their long middle toes has been cited as indication that they originally diversified to become a bird-eater but a rather small degree of sexual dimorphism between males and females indicates a preference for mammal eating. By the most complete picture of the bateleurs diet was a compilation study that complied 1879 prey items from differing parts of the range. In it was found that bateleurs derived 54.6% of the diet from mammals, with perhaps two-thirds to about half of the diet being mammalian carrion, along with 23.7% of the diet being from birds, 17.8% from reptiles, 1.9% from
fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
, 1.8% from
invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s and an extremely small amount (about 0.2%) of
amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
food. Predominantly, within the compilation study, prey was unidentified to species, with 58.4% of the carrion sources, 26.9% of live mammals, genera or family and 22.2% of birds unidentified to species. Differing study areas show differing prey results for bateleurs. In a woodland based study of nesting birds in
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 Mozam ...
, 175 prey items were found for bateleurs with the diet seemingly dominated by prey appearing to be taken alive and relatively large prey at that. The primary prey in the study were found to be scrub hare (''Lepus saxatilis'') (at 26.3% of the prey by number),
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 da ...
(''Procavia capensis'') (at 10.3%),
Gambian pouched rat The Gambian pouched rat (''Cricetomys gambianus''), also Common name, commonly known as the African giant pouched rat, is a species of nocturnal pouched rat of the giant pouched rat genus ''Cricetomys'', in the Family (biology), family Nesomyidae ...
(''Cricetomys gambianus'') (6.85%),
brown greater galago The brown greater galago (''Otolemur crassicaudatus''), also known as the large-eared greater galago or thick-tailed galago, is a nocturnal animal, nocturnal primate, the largest in the family of galagos. As opposed to smaller galago species it w ...
(''Otolemur crassicaudatus'') (6.28%) and helmeted guineafowl (''Numida meleagris'') (4.57%).Vernon, C.J. (1980). ''Prey remains from nests of Bateleur Eagles''. Honeyguide, 103/104: 22-25. In more hilly,
rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...
country of Zimbabwe, seemingly live prey was also preferred but a stronger prevalence of birds was detected among the 249 prey items. In this study, the main prey were scrub hares (22.8%), unidentified
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 ...
s (10%),
glossy starling ''Lamprotornis'' is a large genus of glossy-starlings all of which occur in Africa south of the Sahara. They have glossy blue or green upper parts, which is due to hollow melanin granules arranged in a single layer near the feather barbule's su ...
s (6.72%), other small birds of around (6.69%),
crested guineafowl The crested guineafowl (''Guttera pucherani'') is a member of the Numididae, the guineafowl bird family. It is found in open forest, woodland and forest-savanna mosaics in sub-Saharan Africa. Description It has a total length around 50 cm (2 ...
s (''Guttera pucherani'') (5.43%) and unidentified mammals (5.02%).Steyn, P. (1980). ''Breeding and Food of the Bateleur in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)''. Ostrich, 51:168-178. In Kruger National Park, a much stronger preference for likely or verified carrion was detected in the bateleur’s breeding season diet. Here, 731 food items in
thornveld 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 Botswa ...
type habitat and 341 prey items in savanna type habitat were reviewed. It was estimated 31.6% of the diet was carrion was from medium-sized
antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...
s of around in weight, followed by small carrion sources of around to somewhat larger carrion from
impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...
(''Aepyceros melampus''). Beyond carrion, the Kruger food study found that 16.4% of the total diet consisted of unidentified live mammals, 3.73% each by assorted dove species and
lilac-breasted roller The lilac-breasted roller (''Coracias caudatus'') is an African bird of the roller family, Coraciidae. It is widely distributed in Southern and Eastern Africa, and is a vagrant to the southern Arabian Peninsula. It prefers open woodland and sav ...
s (''Coracias caudatus''), 3% by glossy starlings and 1.6% by
skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...
s. Further variation was found in the diet farther north 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 ...
in Kenya. Of 139 prey items from the nest areas of 2 pairs, mostly live prey predominated again, here led by
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, typi ...
s (''Madoqua kirkii'') at 19.42%, unidentified
snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
s at 18.7%, cape hares at 4.3%, ''
Crocidura The genus ''Crocidura'' is one of nine genus, genera of the shrew subfamily Crocidurinae. Members of the genus are commonly called white-toothed shrews or musk shrews, although both also apply to all of the species in the subfamily. With over 18 ...
'' shrews at 3.59%,
ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, cam ...
carrion at 3.59%, ''
Streptopelia ''Streptopelia'' is a genus of birds in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae. These are mainly slim, small to medium-sized species. The upperparts tend to be pale brown and the underparts are often a shade of pink. Many have a characteristic bla ...
'' doves at 3.59%,
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 2.87% and
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 2.87%. Without statistics,
Cangandala National Park Cangandala National Park is a national park in Malanje Province, Angola. It is situated between the Cuije river and 2 unnamed territories of the Cuanza, with the towns of Culamagia and Techongolola on the edges of the park. It is the smallest ...
in Angola, the prey species reported at nests were included brown greater galago,
greater cane rat The greater cane rat (''Thryonomys swinderianus''), also known as the grasscutter (in Ghana, Nigeria and other regions of West Africa), is one of two species of cane rats, a small family of African hystricognath rodents. It lives by reed-beds and ...
(''Thryonomys swinderianus''), Gambian pouched rat, and unidentified hares. Unfortunately, detailed dietary studies have only been conducted in southern and eastern Africa and details of the diet are unknown elsewhere, however it is assumed the species is a generalist and opportunist throughout its range.Heyman, P., Brown, L., Urban, E. K., & Newman, K. B. (2020). ''The Birds of Africa: Volume I''. Bloomsbury Publishing. In general, a picture emerges that the primary food sources of bateleurs are live taken medium-sized mammals, carrion of generally larger mammal species, rather smallish bird prey and a small diversity of reptiles. When selecting mammals, small prey such as
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s and
shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...
s are by no means neglected but a preference for relatively large rodents tends to be found. These may consist of assorted
mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
,
gerbil The Mongolian gerbil or Mongolian jird (''Meriones unguiculatus'') is a small rodent belonging to the subfamily Gerbillinae. Their body size is typically , with a tail, and body weight , with adult males larger than females. The animal is use ...
s and
dormice A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...
to
ground squirrel Ground squirrels are members of the squirrel family of rodents (Sciuridae), which generally live on or in the ground, rather than trees. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known ...
s, bush squirrels and
vlei rat African vlei rats (''Otomys''), also known as groove-toothed rats, live in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Most species live in marshlands, grasslands, and similar habitats and feed on the vegetation of such areas, occasionally supplementing ...
s to very large rodents such as
Gambian pouched rat The Gambian pouched rat (''Cricetomys gambianus''), also Common name, commonly known as the African giant pouched rat, is a species of nocturnal pouched rat of the giant pouched rat genus ''Cricetomys'', in the Family (biology), family Nesomyidae ...
s, greater and lesser cane rat (''Thryonomys gregorianus'') and
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 Afri ...
s (''Pedetes capensis'') although certainly any consumption of adult
Cape porcupine The Cape porcupine (''Hystrix africaeaustralis''), Cape crested porcupine or South African porcupine, is a species of Old World porcupine native to central and southern Africa. Description file:Reserve Sigean - Porc-épic du Cap 05.jpg, left, 1 ...
(''Hystrix africaeaustralis'') is derived from carrion. Additionally, most African species of
hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
as well as, more secondarily,
hedgehogs A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction ...
and
elephant shrews Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "elephant shrew" comes from a pe ...
and a variety of smallish carnivorous mammals.Kingdon, J., Happold, D., Butynski, T., Hoffmann, M., Happold, M., & Kalina, J. (2013). ''Mammals of Africa''. A&C Black. The latter may include live prey species including several species 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 ...
, from dwarf to
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 shel ...
(''Mungos mungo'') and Selous's mongoose (''Paracynictis selousi''), both about the same body mass as a bateleur, and at least four species of genets as well as
striped polecat The striped polecat (''Ictonyx striatus''), also called the African polecat, zoril, zorille, zorilla, Cape polecat, and African skunk, is a member of the family Mustelidae that resembles a skunk (of the family Mephitidae). The name "zorilla" co ...
s (''Ictonyx striatus''). Over 30 mammal species have been identified as foods for bateleurs exclusive from carrion, including various larger food species, with carrion of ungulates ranging in size from that of
Sharpe's grysbok Sharpe's or northern grysbok (''Raphicerus sharpei'') is a small, shy, solitary antelope that is found from tropical to south-eastern Africa. Range They are found in the Transvaal (South Africa), the Caprivi Strip (Namibia), Botswana, Mozambique ...
(''Raphicerus sharpei'') to African buffalo (''Syncerus caffer'') and the carrion of carnivorans from the size of
jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...
s to that of
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
s (''Panthera leo''). In compilation studies, the most often fed-on ungulates by bateleurs that were identified to species were reported to be
impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...
and
steenbok The steenbok (''Raphicerus campestris'') is a common small antelope of southern and eastern Africa. It is sometimes known as the steinbuck or steinbok. Description Steenbok resemble small oribi, standing 45–60 cm (16"–24") at the ...
(''Raphicerus campestris''), at 4.2% and 2.2% of the total foods, respectively . Bateleurs have been reported to opportunistically scavenge on human remains, as was reportedly witnessed during the
South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...
. Outside of
galago 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 ar ...
s, among
primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
foods most monkeys observed in the diet such as
baboon Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ba ...
s and
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'') are thought to be largely scavenged as carrion. However, studies of
king colobus The king colobus (''Colobus polykomos''), also known as the western black-and-white colobus, is a species of Old World monkey, found in lowland and mountain rainforests in a region stretching from Senegal, through Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Le ...
(''Colobus polykomos'') and
Angola colobus The Angola colobus (''Colobus angolensis''), Angolan black-and-white colobus, or Angolan colobus is a primate species of Old World monkey belonging to the genus ''Colobus''. Taxonomy There are six recognized subspecies and one undescribed sub ...
(''Colobus angolensis'') in Central and southeastern Africa (both where few details are known of bateleurs’ diets), it was mentioned bateleurs may be a potential predator of troops based on the anti-predator activity and vocalizations of these species provoked by bateleurs. The bateleur, using its large, powerful feet, does not shy away from very large prey and has been known to regularly kill mammals heavier than itself including scrub hare estimated to weigh , springhares estimated to weigh , Cape hyrax estimated to weigh , Kirk's dik diks estimated to weigh and
greater cane rat The greater cane rat (''Thryonomys swinderianus''), also known as the grasscutter (in Ghana, Nigeria and other regions of West Africa), is one of two species of cane rats, a small family of African hystricognath rodents. It lives by reed-beds and ...
s estimated to weigh . Even more impressive mammalian kills have been suspected, with instances where reportedly adults
black-backed jackal The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas),'' also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers. One region includes the southe ...
s (''Canis mesomelas''),
honey badger The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is listed ...
s (''Mellivora capensis''), and
aardwolf The aardwolf (''Proteles cristata'') is an insectivorous species of hyena, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for " mane-jackal"), termite-eatin ...
(''Protelas cristatus''), any of which may weigh around twice the aforementioned large mammal prey for bateleurs, may have been unexpectedly killed by bateleurs. Furthermore, an instance of attempted predation in Tanzania on an adult honey badger was witnessed, ending with both the bateleur and badger dying from the ensuing fight. In all, a considerable diversity of birds may be taken by bateleurs, perhaps around 80 species being known in their prey spectrum. They often focus on rather small, if normally live caught, birds compared to other eagles of a similar size. Bateleurs may show a special liking for
pigeon 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 ...
s and
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 ...
s as prey, although only about a half dozen have been identified to species. Doves usually of the genus ''
Streptopelia ''Streptopelia'' is a genus of birds in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae. These are mainly slim, small to medium-sized species. The upperparts tend to be pale brown and the underparts are often a shade of pink. Many have a characteristic bla ...
'' were found to be the most prominent avian prey in compilation studies, accounting for 17.6% of known avian prey and 4.25% of the total foods in several large bateleur food studies.Fact sheets: ''Bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus)'', San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library. Much other similar avian prey, commonly those weighing around , including a surprising diversity of
nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk ta ...
s (perhaps since they are prone to ending up as
roadkill Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...
due to their predilection for resting on roads by night) and
shorebird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
s like
lapwing Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A gro ...
s, other
plover 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 ...
s,
sandpiper Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. ...
s and
terns Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...
in addition to
kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...
s (up to the size of the
giant kingfisher The giant kingfisher (''Megaceryle maxima'') is the largest kingfisher in Africa, where it is a resident breeding bird over most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, other than the arid southwest. Taxonomy The first Species description, ...
(''Megaceryle maxima'')),
roller Roller may refer to: Birds *Roller, a bird of the family Coraciidae * Roller (pigeon), a domesticated breed or variety of pigeon Devices * Roller (agricultural tool), a non-powered tool for flattening ground * Road roller, a vehicle for compa ...
s,
hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "crown" of feathers. Three living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many years all of the extant species were lumped as a single ...
s, small
hornbill Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family (biology), family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a Casque (an ...
s,
parakeet A parakeet is any one of many small to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple Genus, genera, that generally has long tail feathers. Etymology and naming The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French wor''perroquet'' which is reflec ...
s and some
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 t ...
s, usually those with a conspicuous presence on the savanna such as
shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in four genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also know ...
s, weavers and
starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus ''Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...
s. Unlike many other eagles of similar or larger size, there are few to none instances of
waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...
or large waders (i.e.
heron 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 ...
,
stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...
s,
flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...
es, etc.) falling prey to bateleurs although at least one
African spoonbill The African spoonbill (''Platalea alba'') is a long-legged wading birdgamebirds Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...
, with most common
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 o ...
,
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 partridge subfamily of the pheasant family. They are d ...
and
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 was ...
, smaller available 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). Bustards ...
and some
quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New Wor ...
known in their diet. The largest of these avian prey species attacked by bateleurs top out around . The reason for the disinterest in mid-sized to large avian prey of sizes comparable to some mammals and reptiles known to have been taken by bateleurs is not clear, as the bateleur does not in general appear to shy away from difficult-to-capture birds nor to large and dangerous prey of other animal classes. The bateleur was once reported to be a very common predator of reptiles like their cousins the snake eagles. Although this is somewhat erroneous, bateleurs do not infrequently include reptiles in their diet. As much as 30% of the diet can be reptilian, mainly snakes. Some reptiles taken are small and innocuous such as a few species of plated lizards and a few species of
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 ever ...
snakes. However, like their cousins, the bateleur does not seem to shy away from
venomous snake Venomous snakes are Species (biology), species of the Suborder (biology), suborder Snake, Serpentes that are capable of producing Snake venom, venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The v ...
s nor other large or formidable reptiles. They have been known to take
puff adder The puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') is a viperinae, viper species found in savannahs and grasslands from Morocco and western Arabia throughout Africa except for the Sahara and rainforest regions.U.S. Navy. 1991. ''Venomous Snakes of the World'' ...
(''Bitis arietans''),
boomslang The boomslang (, , or ; ''Dispholidus typus'') is a large, highly venomous snake in the family Colubridae. Taxonomy and etymology Its common name means "tree snake" in Afrikaans and Dutch – ''boom'' meaning "tree", and ''slang'' meaning "sna ...
s (''Dispholidus typus''),
Egyptian cobra The Egyptian cobra (''Naja haje''), also known as Ouraeus ''(derived from the Ancient Greek word: ''οὐραῖος'' - )'', is one of the most venomous snakes in North Africa, which has caused many snakebite incidents to humans. It averages rou ...
s (''Naja haje'') and unidentified
mamba Mambas are fast moving highly venomous snakes of the genus ''Dendroaspis'' (which literally means "tree Asp (reptile), asp") in the family Elapidae. Four Neontology, extant species are recognised currently; three of those four species are essen ...
s, with the latter actually reported to be the most prominent known reptile prey in compilation studies, accounting for 18.9% of reported reptile prey and 3.35% of total prey. However, the bateleur is not immune to venom nor is as well specialized to dispatching venomous snakes as are snake eagles and, in one case, a mutual killing recorded between a puff adder and a bateleur was reported. Sizable, and far from defenseless, if not venomous reptiles known in the prey spectrum may include
monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...
s including
Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
(''Varanus niloticus'') and
savannah monitor The savannah monitor (''Varanus exanthematicus'') is a medium-sized species of monitor lizard native to Africa. The species is known as Bosc's monitor in Europe, since French scientist Louis Bosc first described the species. It belongs to the su ...
s (''Varanus exanthematicus''), some
terrapin Terrapins are one of several small species of turtle (order Testudines) living in fresh or brackish water. Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit and may not be closely related. Many belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydidae. The name "t ...
s and
tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...
s and
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 and ...
s (''Python sebae''), although excepting small, young ones, these types of reptilian prey are perhaps in many cases consumed after they are already deceased, such as via roadkills. However, live predation of a tortoise by a bateleur was witnessed in one instance. The bateleur known to carry snakes to the nest in the style of ordinary snake eagles, with the dead snake being half swallowed and subsequently extracted by the capturing birds mate, usually the female at the nest. Seldom identified prey may include assorted, and almost entirely unidentified,
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 pairs ...
s. Mostly
swarming Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or migrating in some direction. ...
social insects seem to attract bateleurs, including
locust Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...
s. It was recently verified that bateleurs will semi-regularly visit
termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...
mounds to hunt down
alate Alate (Latin ''ālātus'', from ''āla'' (“wing”)) is an adjective and noun used in entomology and botany to refer to something that has wings or winglike structures. In entomology In entomology, "alate" usually refers to the winged form o ...
s, although such feeding has been inferred in the past. Other prey can include a rare amphibian, none of which are known to be identified to species or family. Although
fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
are not typically taken, as much as 1.1% of the diet locally can consist of large ''
Clarias ''Clarias'' is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes. The name is derived from the Greek ''chlaros'', which means lively, in reference to the ability of the fish to live for a long time out ...
''
catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
and it is likely that stranded fish are not neglected when opportuned upon.


Interspecific predatory relationships

The bateleur seems to adapt to living in the highly competitive continent of Africa by foraging with a lack of specialization, with a seeming lack of discrimination regarding the prey item/food source nor its origin although its highly aerial and free-ranging foraging mode is quite unique. The bateleur, nonetheless, must face considerable and intense competition from other birds of prey especially. The range of other raptors, especially other eagles and vultures, may appear to be daunting. One of the most similar eagles to regularly encounter the bateleur is the
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, ...
. These two species overlap in many significant ways, being similar in body mass and predatory prowess as well as in nesting habitat, tendency to attack a wide size range of prey (including large prey) and general disposition. Furthermore, both of these eagles show ability to freely change feeding methods between live predation, scavenging on carrion and piracy. In Tsavo East National Park, bateleurs were studied along with tawny eagles, significantly larger martial eagles and slightly smaller
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, ...
s (''Aquila spilogaster''). Here all four largish eagles relied primarily upon Kirk's dik dik for food but were mostly slightly staggered in breeding season, with the bateleur nesting on average earlier than the other eagles. The diet was by far most similar with that tawny eagle in Tsavo East, overlapping 66% in prey species and 72% in prey weight. Meanwhile, the diet overlapped 32% in species and 50% in weight with martial eagles and 37% in species and 57% in weight with African hawk-eagles. The one discrepancy, which is noted in other studies as well, is that the bateleur tends to focus on smaller birds than tawny eagles when selecting avian prey.Tarboton, W.R. & Allan, D.G. (1984). ''The status and conservation of birds of prey in the Transvaal''. Transvaal Museum Monograph No. 3. Pretoria. Bateleurs also bear an advantage over tawny eagles in their ability forage in open habitats, with the absence of perches, due to their aerial foraging methods. However, data indicates that the tawny eagles is dominant over bateleurs typically at disputed kills or carrion. One study accrued 26 instances of tawny eagles displacing bateleurs against only 5 where bateleurs displaced tawny eagles, giving illustration to the tawny eagles dominance. Frequently, the bateleur waits until the tawny eagle is done eating before it does so itself if both are at a carcass site. Bateleurs may encounter a huge range of other scavengers when coming to carrion. Most clearly
vultures A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and So ...
are often present at carrion. However, due to their smaller size, the tawny eagle and especially the bateleur can begin foraging for carrion earlier in the morning, while the vultures must wait for
updraft In meteorology, an updraft is a small-scale current of rising air, often within a cloud. Overview Localized regions of warm or cool air will exhibit vertical movement. A mass of warm air will typically be less dense than the surrounding region, ...
s to undertake flight.Mundy, P.J. (1982). ''The comparative biology of southern African vultures''. Johannesburg. Vulture Study Group. Bateleurs in particular are considered most likely to find a carcass first before other scavengers.Houston, D. C. (1980). ''Interrelations of African scavenging animals''. In Proc. IV Pan.-Afr. orn. congr (pp. 307-312). This was verified in a study in
Maasai Mara Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestr ...
where it was additionally found that scavengers kept to body size in terms of hierarchy. The descending order of scavenger dominance was stated to rank starting with the
spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...
s (''Crocuta croctua'') at the top and
black-backed jackal The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas),'' also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers. One region includes the southe ...
s and
feral dogs A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...
(''Canis lupus familiaris''), then the
lappet-faced vulture The lappet-faced vulture or Nubian vulture (''Torgos tracheliotos'') is an Old World vulture belonging to the bird order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus ''Torgos''. It ...
(''Torgos tracheliotos''), the
Rüppell's vulture Rüppell's vulture (''Gyps rueppelli''), also called Rüppell's griffon vulture, named after Eduard Rüppell, is a large bird of prey, mainly native to the Sahel region and East Africa. The current population of 22,000 is decreasing due to loss ...
(''Gyps rueppellii''), followed by all other vultures with the tawny eagle and the bateleur in the second most and the most subordinate scavenger positions.Kendall, C. J. (2013). ''Alternative strategies in avian scavengers: how subordinate species foil the despotic distribution''. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 67(3), 383-393. Therefore, the bateleur is considered a scavenger with high search efficiency but low competitive ability. However, the bateleur does benefit from the larger scavengers, being less able to access a large carcass, at best feeding on the eyes of said carcass unless it is already otherwise torn asunder such as large carnivore prey or roadkills. With the epidemic-level reduction of vultures in Africa, it was found in Maasai Mara that both bateleurs and tawny eagles have been found to actually increase in sighting frequency in sync with the vanishing numbers of remaining vultures, with the number of bateleur sightings increasing by 52%. To the contrary of the expected hierarchy, cases are known where bateleurs have attacked and dominated much larger scavenging birds including
white-backed vulture The white-backed vulture (''Gyps africanus'') is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the most common vulture species in the continent of Africa. Description Preening at t ...
s (''Gyps africanus'') and bearded vulures (''Gypaetus barbatus''), with these having been successfully displaced or lost carrion to a bateleur. Even more impressively, cases where bateleurs interacting with much larger, more powerful martial eagles have involved instances where the bateleurs have attacked, pirated and even brought to ground in clashes that appear to end in a drawl. However, the martial eagle occupies a notably higher
trophic level The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web. A food chain is a succession of organisms that eat other organisms and may, in turn, be eaten themselves. The trophic level of an organism is the number of steps it i ...
than the bateleurs and is not considered subservient to bateleurs due its even greater predatory prowess. Similarly, instances of considerable competition have been reported between bateleurs and
African fish eagle The African fish eagle (''Haliaeetus vocifer'') or the African sea eagle, is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, Na ...
s (''Haliaeetus vocifer''), which are similarly prone to opportunistic piracy and aggressive interspecific relations. However, the two species are partitioned by habitat and primary prey. It is uncommon-to-rare but not unprecedented that bateleurs may prey on other raptors. Bateleurs have been documented preying on
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''), wintering
lesser spotted eagle The lesser spotted eagle (''Clanga pomarina'') is a large Eastern European bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The typical eagles are often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavy-set Acc ...
s (''Clanga pomarina''),
gabar goshawk The gabar goshawk (''Micronisus gabar'') is a small species of African and Arabian bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Description The gabar goshawk is polymorphic and occurs in two distinct forms which fluctuate in relative abundance acro ...
s (''Micronisus gabar''),
barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalaya ...
s (''Tyto alba''),
spotted eagle-owl The spotted eagle-owl (''Bubo africanus'') also known as the African spotted eagle-owl and the African eagle-owl, is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the eagle owls. Its length is and its weight is from . It has a wingspan. ...
s (''Bubo africanus'') and
peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
s (''Falco peregrinus''). Additionally, they were considered a likely potential predator upon nestlings of the
white-backed vulture The white-backed vulture (''Gyps africanus'') is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the most common vulture species in the continent of Africa. Description Preening at t ...
. Certainly the most impressive instance of intraguild predation documented as committed by bateleurs is when one was seen killing an adult Verreaux's eagle owl (''Bubo lacteus''), a formidable top predator among owls and possibly the largest avian prey ever reported for a bateleur. The predators of mature bateleurs themselves are not well-documented and in fact Verreaux's eagle owls may the only species verified to repeatedly prey upon bateleurs, but this is probably due to rare predator identification at bateleur nests. Bateleurs are usually considered apex predators. Bateleur nestlings, especially due to mixed to limited nest defense and frequent abandonment by parent bateleurs, are presumed to be vulnerable to a huge range of predators although very few are properly identified. Based on other eagles in Africa, these are likely to include various sizes of mammalian carnivores, snakes, monitors and various birds of prey, including even perhaps much smaller species and vultures due to the long periods bateleur eaglets are left unprotected.Watson, R. T. (1988). ''The influence of nestling predation on nest site selection and behaviour of the bateleur''. African Zoology, 23(3), 143-149.


Breeding

Bateleurs are long-lived species, slow-maturing, slow-breeding species, Bateleurs court each other or re-establish existing pair bonds what is considered, a “spectacular” courtship display. During the courtship display, an exaggerated flight is undertaken, in which the male dives down at the female who rolls to present him her claws. Additionally, he sometimes flies with legs dangling loosely, during which the wings may be flapped to create a conspicuous ''whup-whup-whup'' noise like a loose sail in the breeze. Very infrequently, a male bateleur may make a 360 degree lateral roll, accompanied by loud whup-whup noises, at times display may involve 2 males with a single female, but during breeding only one male is usually actively courtship. A further chasing flight reported is not necessarily nuptial and may be performed by birds of the same size and by an adult or an immature and in some cases is linked to the sociality of the species. The bateleur is usually rather monogamous and likely, with the survivorship of each mate, mates for life. However, rare instances of possible polygyny have been reported. The bateleur breeding season tends to fall from September to May 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, Maurit ...
, however juveniles have also been recorded in
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
in September.Grimes, L. G. (1987). ''The Birds of Ghana: an Annotated Check-list (No. 9)''. British Ornithologists' Union. Reportedly, the nesting season can be virtually any month in East Africa but chiefly is some time around December–August, which also is the corresponding peak breeding time in
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 of ...
, with nesting as late as August to October in the southern stretches of the continent considered unusual.Britton, P.L. (1980). ''Birds of East Africa: their habitat, status and distribution''. EANHS, Nairobi.Brown, L. H. (1969). ''Some factors affecting breeding in eagles''. Ostrich, 40(S1), 157-167. In
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 breeding season however fell from July to December while in Ethiopia there was no detectable peak whatsoever.


Nests

Nests are located in fairly large trees, sometimes near a watercourse, either in Hill, hilly terrain or open Plain (geography), flat country. At times, bateleurs are adaptable and perhaps even favor towards nesting near manmade openings such as roads or paths. Nests are typically at above the ground but in extreme may be from high. The nest is normally within the canopy in the fork of the main trunk or a large lateral branch so that it is shaded for much of the day. A variety of tree species may be used. In southern Africa, favored trees tend to ''Adansonia'' and especially ''
Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
'' trees. ''Senegalia nigrescens'' trees may too be popular. Bateleurs usually nest on structures made by themselves but one nest was reported in on a buffalo weaver nest and was difficult to observe. Furthermore, old nest of other birds may be used, in one case a Wahlberg's eagle (''Hieraaetus wahlbergi'') nest taken over and added to deepen it. The nest is a solid structure of medium-sized sticks, measuring about across, deep with a leafy cup of about across. Snake eagles and their kin tend to build relatively small if bulky nests relative to their size and the bateleur is no exception, with their nest size being about half that of in diameter of a similarly-sized eagle like the
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, ...
. Nests tend to be lined with green leaves by the bateleur pair. Both sexes of bateleur are known to contribute to the building or repair of a nest, a process that typically takes about 1–2 months, though sometimes nest construction can be reportedly protracted even in years where no breeding occurs. They often subsequently use a new nest in the same general area in consecutive breeding seasons, usually not more than away, and may reuse a nest they built previously. There is much variation in this regard, from 1 nest being used in 5 consecutive years to no nest reusage in 3 recorded years. Nests built by bateleurs tend to be favored by lanner falcons (''Falco biarmicus''), probably in part because the eagle's young are fledged by July–August when lanners tend to lay; however 1 nestling was persistently mobbed by a lanner during its last week at the nest. In ranching country in Zimbabwe, nests are spaced apart. In Mozambique, nesting spacing was found to be about .


Eggs and development of young

In this species, only one egg is ever laid. Their eggs are quite large for the size of the bird, being broadly oval and usually an unspotted chalky white but sometimes with a few red stains or indistinct reddish markings, which may be cosmetic from feeding and defecating of the parents. The bateleur’s egg is quite similar in size and coloration to most snake eagles, which also generally lay a single egg. A bateleur egg may measure from in height, with an average of in a sample of 24 and in a sample of 50, by in diameter, with an average of in 24 and in 50. The eggs are comparable in size to those of martial and crowned eagles (''Stephanoaetus cornatus''), eagles of easily up to twice the body size of a bateleur. The female bateleur normally incubates alone, though rarely males are seen to do so as well. The female is fed by the male but takes spells off in which she probably feeds on her own kills and the male may take over incubation, although reports of instances where he may do the majority of incubation are probably inaccurate. While the elastic breeding season suggests an indifference to climatic concerns relative to the wet season and dry season, the bateleur is usually considered an eagle that lays earlier in the year than overlapping eagles. The incubation stage lasts for 52 to 59 days, averaging about 55 days, and may the longest of any African raptor. Reports of incubation lasting for only 42–43 days are probably erroneous. The hatchling is highly Altriciality, altricial and very feeble at first, perhaps even more so than most other eagles, being unable to lift its own heavy head and possesses a deeply wrinkled cere. The small eaglet is initially covered in creamy down with a chocolate-brown patch behind the eye that matches the rest of the down colour above with creamy flanks. At about 2 weeks, the young eaglet becomes somewhat more active and the down develops a patchy appearance. At 3 weeks, the eaglet has a downy white head but the down colour above is dark brown, with the first brown feathers sprouting on back of head, secondaries and scapulars. By 4 weeks, they no longer have any white down and brown feathers grow especially the back and wing ones; while a week later, the feathers continue emerge and the secondaries outgrow the primaries. Thence at 7 weeks, the feathering of the foreparts occurs rapidly, being complete by 35 days, but the wing and tail feathers are still growing, the last remaining down being on underwing coverts. The young eaglet resembles those of snake eagles in appearance and feather growth pattern, particularly the retarded growth of the primary feathers, and in general coloring become greyer as the eaglet ages. The nestling may first stand at about 5 weeks as well as engage in wing-flapping. Pre-independence juveniles may perch or lie in prone position before they can fly well. The stage at which the young first feeds itself is dictated by what prey is brought; if it is large, the parents will feed the young to 40 days, but small fragments will be eaten unaided by the downy young. Around 6 weeks is when the eaglet can typically feed itself for the first time. At 9 weeks, eaglet bateleurs have been recorded doing effective threat displays against humans. Fledgling typically occurs around 90–125 days with reported extremes at as little as 93 to as much as 194 days. The young often returns to the nest after its first flight and continues to do so. The young bateleurs become independent quickly within about a week in some case and in others remain closely by and dependent on their parents for about 2–4 months. The young bateleurs may follow their parents around in flight until they are fed. Coaxing behaviour by parents has been recorded (keeping away food until they fly to it, perhaps gradually encouraging the young eagle to go farther afield). After leaving the nest area, the young bateleurs often wander widely, for example one was recorded to have covered . When soaring near another bateleur nest, young bateleurs are often fiercely attacked by adult males. There are some reports, even frequent reports it is said, of immature bateleurs staying to help incubate the eggs although generally this presumably rare.


Parental behaviour

When the nest is approached, at times bateleurs will react forcibly, engaging in aggressive barks, sometimes diving down from flight at the intruder with loud flapping wings. When disturbed in this way, however bateleurs very often depart and they will often not return to the nest for up to several hours. Generally, it seem to be more likely than almost any other African eagle to desert their young. During the incubation and nestling period, the male is more demonstrative than the female at the nest, sometimes doing the distraction display and regular dive-bomb attacks if the nest tree is climbed, the female more commonly flies away in the distance. Once a lone male
baboon Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ba ...
climbed a nest tree, the female bateleur sat and incubated while the male dive bombed it. When this failed to drive it off, the male settled on a branch between the baboon and the nest and threatened the monkey with raised wings, the baboon was never dislodged but did not harass the eagles at the nest. Bateleur parents are highly sensitive to breeding from human disturbance, oddly they may permit and adapt to regular inspections of the nest but resent an attempts to hide or conceal photographic equipment nearby and regular desert the nest even with a small nestling, thus nest photography should be avoided. The ease with which bateleurs are flushed away from their nest appears to lead to uncommonly high nest predation rates, while many other eagle, including from other parts of the world, either sit tightly on their nest until the danger level becomes too high or attack ferociously at the potential threat. The nestling is careful tended to by female, as she is at the nest 82% of the time up to the time the eaglet is 10 days in one Kenya study, her attendance thence drops to 47% from 10–20 days, then after 30 days, dropped to about 5% and from 60 days about 1%. When the young is at later stages of maturity, the female tends to only engage in very brief prey deliveries. Both sexes bring prey and feed the young though the male takes a bigger share of this than in many eagles. After 30 days, the eaglet is often left by itself on the nest throughout the night. The eaglet is fed nearly every day early on but only every 2–3 days later on, especially after leaving the nest.


Breeding success and failures

It is estimated that the bateleur produces a mean of 0.47 chicks per nest per year.Watson, R. T. (1990). ''Breeding Biology of the Bateleur''. Ostrich, 61:1-2, p13-23. DOI: 10.1080/00306525.1990.9633933. In East Africa, the bateleur tends not to breed every year and the replacement rate is about 0.5 per annum. In southern Africa, the bateleur typically breeds every year whether or not they are successful in raising their eaglet. At 4 nests in Zimbabwe, a replacement rate of 0.81 young per pair per annum, with local figures often being higher where they live more free from human disturbance. It was found that Zimbabwe failures were only known to be from infertile or lost eggs. In Kruger National Park, the predation of Verreaux's eagle-owls may considerably lower nesting success. Furthermore in Kruger, it was found that 33% of the population of bateleurs were young birds while the remaining 67% were adults, meaning that younger birds are presumably underpopulated. Elsewhere, even lower numbers, around 25-30%, of the population is young bateleurs. The population, or at least in southern Africa, seems to be roughly even in terms of sex ratio, with an even number of males and females. In the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, 13 pairs of bateleurs were recorded to produce only 0.33 young per pair. There was evidence of a 13% decline in active nesting territories of bateleurs in the Kalahari Gemsbok area during the seven year study, and at least a 40% decline over the previous 10 years. Vacated nesting territories were not reoccupied by the species. There was found to be seemingly no safe buffer zone around the park, due perhaps to persecution in the adjacent farmlands, when potential mortality of foraging bateleur from the protected park enter these areas, as well as nesting site disturbance, could have been part of the reason for this decline. Poisoned and suspected poisoned bateleurs have been found in the Park during the study period. The few that survive their early years may expect a mean estimated lifespan of around 12–14 years and in some cases may manage to live as long as 27 years. The annual adult survival rate is estimated at 95%, while the annual juvenile survival rate is estimated at 75%.


Conservation

Bateleurs are a wide ranging species but have shown rather strong declines. Per estimates from the 1990s, extrapolated from an average of per pair, it was projected that the total population could have been around 180,000 birds including young ones. However, it is likely that the species numbers far lower than that. Currently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN estimates broadly from 10,000 to 100,000 total individuals. The numbers in
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 of ...
have shown the most dramatic and drastic known reductions. At one time, the species numbers at 2000-2500 pairs in the former Transvaal Province alone which was down to around 420 to 470 pairs by the 1990s. More recently it was estimated that there are less than 700 pairs in the entire region of Southern Africa, although that number may be too excessively conservative.Barnes, K. N., ed. (2000). ''The Eskom Red Data Book of birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland''. Johannesburg: BirdLife South Africa. In all the bateleur has declined by an estimated 75% in Southern Africa.Watson, R. A. & Maritz, A. W. A. (2000). ''Terathopius ecaudatus Bateleur''. Pp. 74-76 in G.H. Verdoorn, K.L. Bildstein, and S. Ellis (eds.), Selected African Falconiformes conservation assessment and management plan. IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Apple Valley, MN. The species is considered threatened in
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 Mozam ...
,
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 ...
,
Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and still considered not uncommon but probably declining in
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 northeast ...
,
Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
,
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 ...
and
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 Kalahar ...
. Declines are not endemic to Southern Africa for bateleurs, with declines strongly detected as well in
Ivory Coast 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 ...
and
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. Addition countries that have reported strongly declining numbers are in
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 ...
,
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesNigeria 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 ...
. Where bateleurs were once common in road surveys in Central-West Africa, none were detected in newer road surveys from the 2000s in the same areas. Claims of an increase in potential numbers of bateleur in Uganda are not verified. Decline of the species and the reduction in range is suspected to have been moderately rapid over the past three generations. Generally, throughout the range, the bateleur is considered much more common in
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
s. However even in several protected areas, numbers of bateleurs seem to decreasing. The declines of the species are almost entirely due to Human impact on the environment, anthropogenic causes. These include but are not limited to
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
, the poisoning of carcasses,
persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
through Poaching, shooting and possibly
pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
use. Poisoning of carcasses is a major issue for scavenging animals, especially birds like vultures, in Africa.Ogada, D. L., Keesing, F., & Virani, M. Z. (2012). ''Dropping dead: causes and consequences of vulture population declines worldwide''. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1249(1), 57-71. Zambian bateleurs may suffer from deliberate poisonings as well as those in Eswatini, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The bateleur's wide foraging areas and their ability to locate very small pieces of carrion, makes them highly susceptible to poison-laced carcasses even from a small proportion of farmers who use poisons. Bateleurs and other eagles are not usually the direct target of these poisoning operations, which in some cases may be directed to unfavored mammals like jackals or in other cases directed towards vultures by Poaching, poachers to hide their illegal wildlife killings. The decline of South African bateleurs is primarily linked with poisonings, primarily from large-scale farming operations. It is possible that bateleurs may suffer from the effects of DDT though it is found in a small sample of 3 eggs from South Africa that they evidenced low subcritical levels of DDT metabolites, probably not enough to effect overall populations. However, it is projected that pesticide use may be harming populations in Zambia as well as in Botswana. Ongoing persecution is both serious and unsustainable, beyond poisoning, such killings are known to extent to ongoing shooting and trapping. Some trapping occurs of the species for its feathers which are used in medicine by muti, traditional healers for predicting future events Less well known but probably occurring declines may be due to flying into manmade objects including wire collisions, reservoir drownings and road-killings. Additionally, shrinking habitat has been found to be a prevalent threat to bateleurs due largely to expanding human settlements and intensifying livestock agriculture. A further effect from humans is regular disturbance at bateleur nests, although not typically as deliberate as many other threats, this is causing the breeding success rates to plummet farther. No large scale actions are underway but they are possibly protected in Yemen as an endangered species. It is proposed to implement education and awareness campaigns across its range to reduce the use of poisoned baits. Regular population monitoring is being carried out.


Heraldic and mythological status

The bateleur plays a prominent role in African heraldic and mythological cultures probably due to its spectacular colours and conspicuous and bold behaviour. As a result it is likely that the bateleur is the basis for the “Zimbabwe Bird” which has been prominent since ancient times in Zimbabwean culture and continuously used in heraldic forms including most prominently being featured on the Zimbabwe flag. A South African myth was that when bateleurs “cries in flight, the rain will fall”. The admiration and mythologizing of bateleurs is also known in other areas beyond Zimbabwe, including among those in Southern Africa who speak Tswana language as well as elsewhere dating back to the Iron Age with various with the bateleur variously known as ''kgwadira'' and ''petleke'', and may often in mythology may fulfill the role intelligent servant to their masters, which were considered vultures. In East and Central Africa, the bateleur has been referred to variously as ''gawarakko'' and ''nkona'' and in the Lake Tanganyika was considered an essential possession of sultans whether the birds were dead or alive.Grant, C. H. B. (1925). ''Uha in Tanganyika territory''. The Geographical Journal, 66(5), 411-422.


Media

File:A Bateleur Eagle mid blink.jpg, A Bateleur blinking showing off the nictitating membrane File:Gaukler-03.jpg, File:Bukázó sas 1.jpg, File:Bateleur Eagle.jpg, File:Terathopius ecaudatus.ogv, File:Bateleur.jpg, File:Terathopius ecaudatus -Chobe River front, Botswana -juvenile.jpg, File:Bateleur Eagle skeleton.jpg, Skeleton of a bateleur eagle (Museum of Osteology)


References


External links

* Bateleur
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q726387 Circaetinae Birds of prey of Sub-Saharan Africa Birds of the Middle East Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of Africa Near threatened biota of Asia Birds described in 1800 Articles containing video clips