The crowned eagle, also known as the African crowned eagle or the crowned hawk-eagle (''Stephanoaetus coronatus''), is a large
bird of prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators h ...
found in
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 ...
; 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 ...
it is restricted to
east
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
ern areas.
[Sinclair & Ryan (2003). ''Birds of Africa south of the Sahara''. ] Its preferred habitats are principally riparian woodlands and various
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' ...
s.
[ The crowned eagle is the only ]extant
Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to:
* Extant hereditary titles
* Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English
* Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...
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 ...
''Stephanoaetus''. A second species, the Malagasy crowned eagle
The Malagasy crowned eagle (''Stephanoaetus mahery''), also known as the Madagascar crowned hawk-eagle, is an extinct large bird of prey endemic to Madagascar.
It has been proposed that this bird, combined with elephant bird eggs, were the sourc ...
(''Stephanoaetus mahery'') became 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 ...
after humans settled on Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
.[Goodman, Steven M. (1994). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 107(3): 421–428 ISSN 0006-324]
''Description of a new species of subfossil eagle from Madagascar: ''Stephanoaetus'' (Aves: Falconiformes) From The Deposits Of Ampasambazimba''.Pdf
/ref>
At least 90 percent of the diet is 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 ...
ian; the usual prey taken by populations shows pronounced regional differences. Throughout its range the principal prey items are small ungulates
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 ...
(such as duiker
A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophina ...
s, chevrotain
Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, the only extant members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only ...
s), rock 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 ...
and small primates such as monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s.[Kemp, A. C. (1994). ''Crowned Hawk-eagle (''Stephanoaetus coronatus'')''. Pp. 205 in: del Hoyo, Elliott & Sargatal. eds. (1994). '']Handbook of the Birds of the World
The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...
'', vol. 2. 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 large lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s are barely taken.[
Although the crowned eagle's long tail imparts an overall length up to , it is somewhat less massive and has a considerably shorter wingspan than Africa's largest eagle, the ]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 ...
(''Polemaetus bellicosus''). It is nevertheless considered Africa's most powerful eagle when measured in terms of the weight of its prey items.[ It often preys on mammals such as ]bushbuck
The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...
(''Tragelaphus scriptus''), exceptionally weighing up to albeit usually much less.[Ferguson-Lees & Christie (2001). ''Raptors of the World''. ] The crowned eagle possesses unusually large talons and strong legs, and may kill by crushing the skull. The eagle is also ferocious; some records from beneath a nest show the remains of a large, male Sooty mangabey
The sooty mangabey (''Cercocebus atys'') is an Old World monkey found in forests from Senegal in a margin along the coast down to the Ivory Coast.
Habitat and ecology
The sooty mangabey is native to tropical West Africa, being found in Guinea, G ...
weighing .
Due to their ecological similarities, the crowned eagle is considered to be the African counterpart of the harpy eagle
The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...
(''Harpia harpyja''). Thanks to its bold and highly conspicuous behavior, it is exceptionally well-studied for a large, forest-dwelling eagle. Due to a relatively high level of habitat adaptability, it was until recently considered to be faring well by the standards of large, forest-dependent raptors.[Dowsett-Lemaire, F. & Dowsett, R.J. ''The Birds of Malawi: An Atlas and Handbook''. 2006, Tauraco Press and Aves, Liège, Belgium. 556 pages] However, today it is generally thought that it is decreasing far more than was previously perceived due to the almost epidemic destruction of native tropical African forest. It is now listed by 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 ...
as Near Threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
.
Taxonomy and systematics
This species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
was first described by Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
in the 12th edition of ''Systema Naturae
' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...
'', published in 1766, as ''Falco coronatus''. Since birds were grouped largely on superficial characteristics at that time, many unrelated species were grouped by Linnaeus in the genus ''Falco''. The actual taxonomic alignment of the crowned eagle is apparent due to its feathering over its tarsus, which is generally rare in unrelated accipitrids. The crowned eagle is actually part of the diverse " booted eagle" group, which has sometimes been considered a distinct subfamily (Aquilinae
The Aquilinae are a subfamily of eagles of the family Accipitridae. The general common name used for members of this subfamily is "booted eagle", although this is also the common name of a member of the subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamau ...
). Included in this grouping are the genus '' Aquila'' and all species described as "hawk eagles" including the genera ''Spizaetus
''Spizaetus'' is the typical hawk-eagle birds of prey genus found in the tropics of the Americas. It was however used to indicate a group of tropical eagles that included species occurring in southern and southeastern Asia and one representative ...
'' and ''Nisaetus
''Nisaetus'' (Crested hawk-eagles group) is a genus of subfamily Aquilinae found mainly in tropical Asia. They were earlier placed within the genus ''Spizaetus'' but molecular studies show that the Old World representatives were closer to the ge ...
''. Other assorted monotypical genera included amongst "booted eagles" are ''Lophaetus
The long-crested eagle (''Lophaetus occipitalis'') is an African bird of prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, r ...
'', '' Polemaetus'', '' Lophotriorchis'' and '' Ictinaetus''.
At one time, the genus ''Stephanoaetus'' was considered a "specialized offshoot" of the ''Spizaetus'' hawk-eagles based on morphological attributes.[''Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World'' by Leslie Brown & Dean Amadon. The Wellfleet Press (1986), .] DNA sequences utilizing one mitochondrial and three nuclear gene
A nuclear gene is a gene whose physical DNA nucleotide sequence is located in the cell nucleus of a eukaryote. The term is used to distinguish nuclear genes from genes found in mitochondria or chloroplasts. The vast majority of genes in eukary ...
s indicated the crowned eagle is a sister species to the Asian hawk-eagles, which are now considered a separate genus, ''Nisaetus
''Nisaetus'' (Crested hawk-eagles group) is a genus of subfamily Aquilinae found mainly in tropical Asia. They were earlier placed within the genus ''Spizaetus'' but molecular studies show that the Old World representatives were closer to the ge ...
'', that are not closely related to the neotropical hawk-eagles, which are retained in ''Spizaetus
''Spizaetus'' is the typical hawk-eagle birds of prey genus found in the tropics of the Americas. It was however used to indicate a group of tropical eagles that included species occurring in southern and southeastern Asia and one representative ...
''.[Pdf]
/ref> However, another recent study, this time of sequences of two mitochondrial and one nuclear genes, did not reveal a close relationship of this eagle to any other accipitrid, including the ''Nisaetus'' species, and the genus was found to be genetically highly divergent from other "booted" eagles". In a case of convergent evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...
, the much heavier harpy eagle
The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...
, which is outside of the "booted eagle" group, has a similar skeletal morphology to the crowned eagle.[ Two less well-known, probably distantly related species, the ]mountain hawk-eagle
The mountain hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus nipalensis'') or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself ...
(''Nisaetus nipalensis'') and the black-and-chestnut eagle
The black-and-chestnut eagle (''Spizaetus isidori'') is a South American species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is sometimes called Isidor's eagle. It is often placed in the monotypic genus ''Oroaetus''. However, recent genetic t ...
(''Spizaetus isidori''), have also been found comparable to the crowned eagle. While both are slimmer and smaller, these eagles are also large-bodied, strong-footed offshoots of the evolutionary radiation of forest-dwelling booted eagles, respectively distributed in East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
and South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. The adult crowned eagle even has somewhat intermediate appearance between these birds, sharing the variable patterning of the mountain hawk-eagle and some of the colouring of the black-and-chestnut. Until possibly up to 1500, another crowned eagle species, the Malagasy crowned eagle
The Malagasy crowned eagle (''Stephanoaetus mahery''), also known as the Madagascar crowned hawk-eagle, is an extinct large bird of prey endemic to Madagascar.
It has been proposed that this bird, combined with elephant bird eggs, were the sourc ...
(''S. mahery'') existed. Similar in size and form to the extant crowned eagle, the Malagasy crowned eagle probably filled a similar niche in Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, but was likely to have preyed on lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 exist ...
s in place of monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s. Apparently, the Malagasy crowned eagle became extinct due mainly to the loss of prey and habitat change, attributable to early humans on the island. To date, the living crowned eagle has no recognized subspecies. However, Simon Thomsett noted from field experience possible racial differences between crowned eagles in limited woodland habitats in East and South Africa (called by him the "bush eagles"), which have historically been the main populations studied, and those that live in denser West African rainforest, in the central part of the species distribution. The latter population, he noted, appeared smaller but relatively larger footed, seemed chestier in build and appeared to have deeper eyebrows than the bush eagle; behaviorally the rainforest eagles seemed bolder and louder, which is reinforced in other accounts of the species.
Description
The crowned eagle is a very large eagle. Measuring from in length, it is the fifth longest extant eagle in the world.[ The female, at a weight of , is around 10–15% larger than the male, at a weight of .][ An average body mass of was given in one account.][''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), .] Elsewhere, an average of has been claimed. Slightly smaller weights were found in a South African survey where 5 males averaged and 8 females averaged .[McPherson, S. C., Brown, M., & Downs, C. T. (2017). ''Gender-related morphometric differences in mature and nestling Crowned Eagles, with comments on ringing of eagle nestlings in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa''. Ostrich, 88(3), 195-200.] Overall, they are the 9th heaviest living eagle species.[ The wingspan typically ranges from . The largest authenticated wingspan for a female was , with a claim of wingspans of up to needing confirmation. This eagle's wingspan is quite short for the bird's size, being around the same mean width as that of a ]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, ...
(''Aquila rapax'') or a 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 n ...
(''Circaetus gallicus''), species that weigh about half as much as a crowned eagle. However, the somewhat boxy and rounded wings are quite broad, being broader than, for example, the much longer-winged golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...
(''Aquila chrysaetos'').[Brown, L. 1976. ''Eagles of the World''. David and Charles, .] The wing morphology of the species gives it maneuverability in its densely wooded environment. The wing chord measures , with a median of in males and in females. In South Africa, 5 males averaged in wing chord length and 7 females averaged .[ While it, on average, is less heavy and has a smaller wingspan than the often sympatric ]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 ...
, its average total length exceeds that of the martial eagle thanks to its much longer tail. The crowned eagle's tail is from long, with a median of in males and in females. South African males averaged in tail length in a sample of 4 and females averaged .[ 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 ...
is of a medium size relative to its body size, with one large museum specimen's bill measuring in length from the gape, in culmen length and in bill depth. In South Africa, culmen length averaged in 4 males and in 7 females, with a range in both .[
]
The tarsus is of a modest length for a raptor of its size, at , and is clearly shorter than that of martial eagle.[ However, the feet and legs are visibly thicker and heavier than those of the martial eagle and the talons are apparently quite massive in both length and width. While few comprehensive measurements of the talon size of wild crowned eagles are known, one female museum specimen reportedly had a hallux-claw (or hind claw, which is the largest talon on accipitrids) of ,][ while another female was measured at 5 years of age, the age of sexual maturity, in the hallux-claw and an adult male measured . In South Africa, hallux-claw length averaged in 5 males and in 7 females with a range in both of .][ These figures put their talon size as around the same size as the largest ]golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...
s and close to those of a mid-sized harpy eagle
The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...
. Some captive crowned eagles have been credited with a hallux-claw length of up to , although, much like a single report of captive harpy eagles with a hallux-claw, no such outsized talons are known to have been confirmed.[ In a small sampling of large, forest-dwelling raptors, the front-left talon of the crowned eagle, at , was around one cm less than that of a harpy eagle or the huge, recently extinct ]Haast's eagle
Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei'') is an extinct species of eagle that once lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the pouakai of Māori legend.[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''). Considering a big female of these species can weigh up to twice as much as an average crowned eagle may illustrate the relative largeness of the crowned eagle's talons.
The adult crowned eagle is quite strikingly plumaged. Its crown is dark to rufous-tinged brown with a prominent, oft-raised black-tipped double crest, which can give the head a somewhat triangular appearance. The upperparts of an adult are a blackish brown-grey color, with a variable tinge of blue. The throat is brown while the belly and breast are white overlaid densely with blackish bars and blotches, variably marked with cream or rich buff-rufous coloration. The wing primaries are white at the base, broadly tipped with black and crossed by two black bars. The tail is black with brownish-grey bands. The thighs and legs are barred and closely spotted with black and white. The underwing coverts of adults have a bold chestnut coloration, spotted lightly with black. The adult crowned eagle has eyes that can range from yellow to almost white, a cere and feet of an ochre-yellow color and black talons. In the wild, misidentification of an adult is improbable thanks to the species' bearing and voice.[ The strongly barred outer wings and tail are all diagnostic in flight.][ Further simplifying identification, details such as the crest, the bird's upright perching posture and large size are unique to this animal.][ While they do differ somewhat in size, the genders' sexual dimorphism by size is relatively modest and eagles are unlikely to be sexed by this alone. However, the male may be distinguished by his more rapid wing beats (4 or 5 per second) from the more sluggish female (3 or 4 per second).]
As seen in about half of the "booted eagle" group, the juvenile crowned eagle has strikingly different looking plumage compared to the adults. Much variation occurs as the maturation process occurs. A great majority of juveniles have a white head and underside, which contrast with the thighs and legs, which are heavily spotted with black.[ The juvenile eagle's back is light brown or grayish-brown, with pale feather edgings that often give the back a scaled appearance, especially on the upper-wing coverts. There is often a pinkish red wash on the upper chest. Just-fledged chicks tend have dark patched faces, freckled bibs and slightly barred chests and spotted legs. Less common juvenile crowned eagle plumages, possible even when they are under a year of age and still under parental care, may include eagles so stripy that they which one could easily have aged as two- to three-year-olds.][ The tail of the juvenile is black with three pale bars and a narrow black tip. The juvenile eagle's cere is grey and the feet are dull yellow.] By 4 months post-fledgling, the inner thighs, previously poorly covered with downy type feathers, are covered with small feathers. While the pale 'morph' young just prior to leaving the nest usually have unmarked tarsus, they soon get spots on the front part of the tibio tarsal joint. The tibio tarsal pad is still bare and obvious up until it is a year old, whereupon it vanishes only to return to incubating females.[ Eye color is variable too with some having khaki light brown just prior to fledging and others with adult-like yellow ochre eyes.][ Up to 15 months after leaving the nest, the immature eagles more closely resemble the plumage they have at first independence than the adult's plumage.] The juvenile may be confused with the similarly colored juvenile martial eagle, especially in flight.[ It is distinguished from the martial species in having a much longer, more heavily barred tail, much shorter wings and spotted thighs.][
]
Distribution and habitat
The crowned eagle is found only on the continent of Africa. 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*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
, the crowned eagle's range extends from central 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 ...
, to 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 ...
, forested parts of 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 ...
to as far south as eastern South Africa, with a southern distribution limit around Knysna
Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47 ...
.[ In western and central Africa, the crowned eagle's range extends through much of the (once) vast ]African rainforest
Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the trop ...
. They may be found from 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 ...
, 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 ...
and 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 ...
, where they inhabit the Guinean forests, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
, where they live in the Congolian forests
The Congolian rainforests are a broad belt of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forests which extend across the basin of the Congo River and its tributaries in Central Africa. They are the only major rainforests which absorb more carbon than they ...
, and down south to as far Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
. Despite its large distribution there, the crowned eagle is now rare in many parts of 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 ...
.[
The crowned eagle inhabits mainly dense ]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 ...
s, including those deep within rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
, but will sometimes also be found in relict patches, wooded escarpments, riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...
strips of ''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 ...
'', heavily wooded hillsides, and rocky outcrops throughout its range. The crowned eagle may be found from an altitude of sea-level to at least . Owing to lack of current suitable habitat, the eagle's range is often somewhat discontinuous.[ In the ]Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
, the crowned eagle has been confirmed to survive at relatively high densities in protected areas that maintain dense, old-growth rainforests. In Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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, 84% of the crowned eagles range is within rainforest with an annual rainfall amount of more than . Around stretches of 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*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
where protected areas mostly consist of fairly open habitat, crowned eagles usually live in wooded areas of rocky hills and narrow riverine strips, only rarely ranging into savanna surrounding the hills. 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 ...
has been subject to the most comprehensive study of crowned eagle habitat, largely since many areas there would seem inhospitable to a large raptor often associated with old-growth forest.[Oatley, T.B., Oschadleus, H.D., Navarro, R.A. and Underhill, L.G. 1998. ''Review of ring recoveries of birds of prey in southern Africa: 1948–1998''. Johannesburg: Endangered Wildlife Trust.] In southern Africa, its distribution south of the Limpopo River
The Limpopo River rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mountaino ...
coincides largely with montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
, although it is not restricted to that habitat and may range secondarily into plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s, usually of eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
.[ In South Africa, it occurs in both lowland and montane ]evergreen forest
An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...
, dense woodland, and forested ravines and gorges in 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 ...
s and thornveld.[Boshoff, A.F. 1997. Crowned Eagle. Pp. 194–195 in J.A. Harrison et al. (eds.), ''The atlas of South African birds''. Volume 1: Non-passerines. BirdLife South Africa and Avian Demography Unit, Johannesburg, South Africa.] 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 ...
, the crowned eagle can be found in quite open woods with ''Adansonia
''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...
'' trees and may occasionally forage in savanna and secondary growth.[ 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 ...
, highland birds forage in lower 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 ...
, and lower altitudes, breeding occurs in deciduous forest, more locally in dense miombo, tall riparian woodlands, and in remnants close to cultivation.[ Crowned eagles in ]Zambezi
The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...
, occurs in evergreen forest in the eastern highlands, in rugged, hilly terrain over the central plateau, in hills and escarpments in the southeastern portions of the central watershed, and in riparian habitat along the larger rivers.[Irwin, M. P. S. 1981. ''The birds of Zimbabwe''. Quest Publishing, Salisbury, Zimbabwe.]
Behavior
Typical of most raptors that breed in Africa, the crowned eagle is non-migratory and is largely sedentary.[ This species usually inhabits a fixed territory throughout the year during its adult life. There is evidence that the birds move about to some degree when circumstances require it, for example when they need to change mates in isolated breeding areas.] The greatest movement of any notable distance is usually associated with juvenile birds, which wander relatively widely before maturation.[ Forty-four birds of various ages that were ringed in southern Africa and recovered were all found near the ringing localities.][ Small movements by crowned eagles has resulted in them being sighted in improbable habitats, such as on an open savanna hill in ]Kenya
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, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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, an open river bed in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and even a golf course in Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
.[
The crowned eagle is highly vocal and has a noisy, undulating display flight. In ]Equatorial Africa
Equatorial Africa is an ambiguous term that sometimes is used to refer either to the equatorial region of Sub-Saharan Africa traversed by the Equator, more broadly to tropical Africa or in a biological and geo-environmental sense to the intra- ...
, they often call year-around, while elsewhere they may vocalize mainly in the context of breeding and nesting activities.[ The call is a series of loud whistles that rise and fall in pitch.][ The male performs an elaborate rise-and-fall display over the forest canopy both during the breeding season and outside it as a territorial proposition.][ Usually, territorial displays, which outnumber breeding displays, occur around the periphery of the bird's home range while breeding displays are likely to be over or at least near the nest.] Displays consists of a series of steep dives and ascents, with a few wing-flaps at the top of each climb and descending circles and figures of eight. During descents, eagles can drop as much as at a time before circling back up.[ During this display, the male is noisy, uttering a shrill ''kewee-kewee-kewee'' while throwing his head back, often calling for a spell of approximately 30 seconds.][ The displaying male may reach heights exceeding , sometimes even near cloud level at over above the ground.] The adult female may also perform independent display flights, uttering a lower ''kooee-kooee-kooee''. The female seems to display less often and tends to have a mellower voice. Pairs also perform visually striking mutual displays, sometimes arising from the first type or when the pairs come together after a brief absence. Spectacular tandems, interlocking talons and falling some distance from the sky are typical of mutual displays.[ Despite the spectacular and conspicuous nature of their display flights, the crowned eagle is sometimes considered a "clumsy" flier out in the open, lacking the grace and speed attributed to other eagles in a high-flying context, such as large ''Aquila'' species.][ While awaiting food at the nest, both the female and the young call out a penetrating, high ''kwee-kwee-kwee'', that can border on incessant.][
In disposition, the crowned eagle is considered nervous, constantly alert and on edge.][ They are quite different from the oft-stately open country eagles such as the '' Aquila'' species. In their training and management, crowned eagles are perhaps more reminiscent of ]northern goshawk
The northern goshawk (; ''Accipiter gentilis'') is a species of medium-large bird of prey, raptor in the Family (biology), family Accipitridae, a family which also includes other extant diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards and harrier (bird) ...
s (''Accipiter gentilis'') than ''Aquila'' eagles.[ Some linkage has been made between forest-dwelling habits and having a curious and edgy disposition amongst various raptorial birds.] Ironically considering their otherwise hyperactive behavior, the main hunting techniques of crowned eagle require long periods of inactivity, spent sitting on a perch.[ Mature crowned eagles are reportedly nearly fearless towards humans and, unless shy from prior interactions, unusually prone to treat humans aggressively.][ Crowned eagles can nest around developed areas, including in the vicinity of quite suburban, developed areas (such as in view of apartment or office buildings), so long as prey is abundant and accessible and the habitat provides enough mature vegetation to facilitate nest building and hunting activities.][ Some biologists consider this species highly intelligent, cautious, independent and inquisitive when compared to other accipitrids.][ In ]falconry
Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...
, crowned eagles cannot be induced to direct their hunting instinct towards large prey by increasing their hunger, as is done with ''Aquila'' eagles, for example.[ In the context of human interaction, wild, adult crowned eagles are quite the opposite of the ]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 ...
, which are typically very wary and tends to shun any variety of human activity.[ However, young crowned eagles in their post-fledging stage differ greatly in behavior from independent or adult eagles. Amongst post-fledging eagles in a semi-captive state, it has been noted that they border on helpless in terms of feeding and defending themselves compared to other accipitrids and are even described as "cowardly", unwilling to even simulate attacking prey until many months after fledging. This implies a learning element occurs in wild crowned eagles during their exceptionally long post-fledging period.][ Crowned eagles are reportedly variable in temperament as individuals to a degree greater than that found in most other raptors.][
]
Breeding
Crowned eagles have one of the most prolonged breeding cycles of any bird. It is common for raptors that live around the tropics to have a relatively elongated breeding period.[ Crowned eagle pairs breed once every two years; a single breeding cycle is approximately 500 days in duration.] Most other eagle species complete a breeding cycle in under six months, or in about 35% of the time it takes the crowned eagle.[ While the incubation and nestling stages are about average for a tropical eagle (for example the black-breasted snake-eagle (''Circaetus pectoralis''), about half the weight of this species, has an incubation/nestling cycle of a similar length), it is the extraordinary post-fledging period of 9–11 months that makes the crowned eagles' breeding cycle so long.][ In ]harpy
In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; lat, harpȳia) is a half-human and half-bird personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems.
Descriptions
They were generally depicted as birds with the hea ...
and 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 ...
, although these are less extensively studied, it may take a similar or even longer amount of time for the young to attain full independence. A case of crowned eagle pairs that reportedly bred every year in South Africa are unsubstantiated but may be due to an apparently high population loss rate among juvenile eagles near areas that are heavily populated by humans.[ Breeding can occur almost year-around throughout the range, though egg laying seems to peak roughly around the end of the African ]wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
or the early dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
, from July to November.[ Territories or home ranges are maintained vigorously. 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 ...
, individual home ranges can vary from in size.[ Near the city of ]Nelspruit
Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, ea ...
in South Africa, home ranges averaged in size.[ In southern Africa, the mean distance between active nest sites can range from .][
After engaging in the breeding display described above, the pair collaborate in building a massive nest in a fork of a large forest tree, typically from above the ground. While the female fetches more nesting material, the male tends to be more active in nest construction.] 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*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
, many nests appear to be close to a forest river. Generally, crowned eagles seem to be attracted to the taller trees in the forest.[ On the ]Nyika Plateau
The Nyika Plateau lies in northern Malawi, with a small portion in north eastern Zambia. Most of it lies at elevations of between , the highest point being at Nganda Peak. It is roughly a diamond in shape, with a long north–south axis of about ...
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 ...
, the favorite nesting trees are the large emergent '' Pouteria adolfi-friedericii'' and ''Gambeya gorungosana
''Gambeya gorungosana'' is species of evergreen tree native to eastern and central Africa.
Range and habitat
''Gambeya gorungosana'' ranges across eastern and central Africa, from Mozambique and Zimbabwe through Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Burundi ...
'', and a pair in the Lower Shire used a ''Sterculia appendiculata
''Sterculia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae: subfamily Sterculioideae (previously placed in the now obsolete Sterculiaceae). Members of the genus are colloquially known as tropical chestnuts. ''Sterculia'' ma ...
'' tree.[ 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 ...
, ''Newtonia buchananii
''Newtonia buchananii'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae.
Description
''Newtonia buchananii'' is a tree from 10–40 meter high, forming a loose canopy with a flattish top. It has smooth bark, and the trunk has small buttresses at t ...
'' are reportedly one of the most used tree species for nesting.[ Exceptional crowned eagle nests have been observed on sheer cliff faces.][ In southern Africa, the species nest in drier and denuded terrain than expected such as '']Adansonia
''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...
'' stands on semi-arid hillsides. Despite the relative sparseness of this habitat, these sites have a varied and convoluted terrain, with nooks and crannies, valleys, overhangs and hideaways that allow a crowned eagle to exercise its particular hunting skills. In Kenya, similar fractured landscapes can also be utilized by crowned eagles, such as the black gigantic volcanic rubble fields of Tsavo West National Park
Tsavo West National Park is located in the Coast Province of Kenya. The park covers an area of 9,065 square kilometres. The A109 road Nairobi-Mombasa and a railway divides it from the adjoining Tsavo East National Park. Together with adjoining ...
, the lower Chyulu Hills
The Chyulu Hills is a mountain range in Makueni County in southeastern Kenya. It forms a 100-kilometre-long volcanic field in an elongated northeast–southwest direction. Its highest peak is 2,188 metres high.
The Leviathan Cave (also ...
, Kibwezi
Kibwezi is a town in Makueni County, Kenya.
Kibwezi town is the headquarters of Kibwezi division, one of 15 administrative divisions in Makueni County. The division has a population of 80,236, of whom 4,695 are classified urban. The division has ...
and Soysambu Conservancy. These are jungles of boulders covered with low growth interspersed (in the past) with high trees.[ A nest built from scratch may take up to 5 months to construct, however existing nests are often repaired and re-used during successive breeding seasons, a process that can take as much as 3 months.] It is typical for an eagle pair to use a nest for more than five years and, unlike several other booted eagles, crowned eagle pairs rarely build more than one nest for alternative use.[ Most large eagles build a very large nest and the crowned eagle is no exception, as it builds one of the largest nests of any eagle. In the first year they build a nest, it may measure across and deep. However, a larger nest, usually after several years of usage, may measure up to across and up to deep. The nest consists of both dead and greener branches and has a light coverage of leaves and animal matter.][ Copulation takes place in the nest, several times a day. Reportedly copulation can occur up to a year before laying, although these may be exceptional cases of mating for non-fertilization purposes (which, in other eagles, has been thought to be related mainly to strengthening pair bonds).] A pre-copulation display typically occurs, wherein the male runs repeatedly around the crouching female with wings upraised, which displays the chestnut of the under-wing coverts and beautiful barring.
In South Africa the crowned eagle lays its eggs from September to October; 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 ...
, it lays from May to October; mainly nearer to October around the Congo River
The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
; anywhere from June to November in Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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, with a peak in August through October; in Uganda from December to July; and 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 ...
, laying peaks in October. The clutch of the crowned eagle either contains 1 or 2 eggs. Often 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*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
, just one egg is laid. Eggs are usually just white, though may sometimes be overlaid with sparse red-brown markings. The eggs are moderate in size, averaging , with ranges of in length and in width. When a natural disaster befalls a nest, a replacement may be made in 2 months time. Incubation lasts for approximately 49 days. 80–90% of egg incubation is done by the female during the day. Food is mainly brought to the nest by the male in the early stages of breeding, though sometimes both sexes may deliver food. The male brings food to the incubating female every 3 to 5 days. When they initially hatch, the young tend to be quite quiet. If two eggs are laid, the younger one dies by starvation after being outcompeted for food by the older one or even directly killed by its older sibling.[ No nest of wild crowned eagles has been known to successfully produce more than one fledgling, though in captivity two have been known to survive with human assistance (supplementally feeding the younger chick or taking it out of the nest).][ In cases where the older nestling dies, the younger one may be fed more regularly and survive.][
After hatching, the male kill rate rises to one kill every 1.5 days. Pair behavior while raising chicks is very variable, some males are very attentive to their young, while others leave virtually all brooding to the female. After 40 days of age, the young is capable of feeding itself, though is often still fed. The first feathers through the white down emerge when the crowned eagle chick is 40 days old, with the feathers ultimately covering the down in 76 days. After 76 days, the main feather development is in the tail or the wings. Wing flapping begins at 45 to 50 days, increasing after around 75 days.] The young fledge at 90 to 115 days, with an average 110.6 days and any period of time less than 100 days is considered unusually soon. On average, male chicks tend to be more active wing-flappers and usually will first fly around 10 days earlier than female chicks.[ After fledging, females are attentive 95% of the day and brood 50–75% of the day, the amount decreasing slightly with each day. The female does much of the prey capture and a majority of the nest defense after the young fledge. After fledging, the young remain in the neighborhood of the parent's nest and are fed every 3 to 5 days by either parent for their first 270–350 days of life.] The rate of food-delivery varies from several times a day to every 3 days on average during the post-fledging period. The fledged juvenile will solicit adults (apparently even unrelated adults) for food but does not actually take the prey unless this occurs around the nest site. The first recorded kill for a young crowned occurred 61 days after fledging, although this is considered exceptionally early by the standards of this species. Flights increase incrementally through the post-fledging period, although the young do not engage in rising flights until they are fully independent. Independence appears to be triggered by the increased indifference of parents to bringing food. Due to the loud vocal interplay between the parents and the fledging eagle, the adults seem to take it as a sign that their offspring has sought independence if they return to the nesting area and hear no begging auditory response.[ The young eagle usually remains in the care of its parents for a total of up to 11 months after it fledges, longer than is known in almost any other raptor. The advantage of this prolonged stretch to independence is that it may make for a stronger young eagle when compared to other accipitrids which have almost no post-fledging dependency period.][ In 34 possible cases, 18 resulted in eggs being laid. Fledging success is approximately 83% and almost all young that leave the nest also reach independence.]
It is estimated that most crowned eagles will reach breeding maturity at around five years old, as is typical for other large eagle species.[
]
Dietary biology
The crowned eagle is often described as the most powerful raptor in Africa, even more so than the two slightly heavier species endemic to Africa, the 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 ...
and the Verreaux's eagle
Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the Indian black eagle (''Ictinaetus malayensis''), which lives far to t ...
(''Aquila verreauxii'').[Steyn, P. 1982. Birds of prey of southern Africa: their identification and life histories. David Phillip, Cape Town, South Africa.] One listing included the crowned eagle as the only bird in a ranking of the 10 strongest living land creatures (pound for pound). Elsewhere, the harpy eagle
The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...
is listed as the overall most powerful living eagle and bird of prey.[ Since there are no known actual tests in any African raptor of the pressure exerted via their grip, as has been done with some other large eagles, their power has been estimated from the size of the feet and talons and from the prey they typically select.]
The crowned eagle's staple diet is mostly mammalian. One estimate of the typical prey range posited that the weight range is from , which is, based on the species ecology in Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
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n hillside woodland. This prey weight range is roughly the same weight range that's typically attributed to martial or Verreaux's eagles. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that is the weight range of the rock 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 ...
, which all three large eagles are known to hunt regularly 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*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
. In a large collection of bones in the South African Museum
The Iziko South African Museum is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present site in the Company's Garden since 1897. The museum houses important A ...
, it was found that 51.2% of the bones collected from Nature's Valley
Nature's Valley is a holiday resort and small village on the Garden Route along the southern Cape coast of South Africa. Nature's Valley lies between the Salt River, the foothills of the Tsitsikamma Mountains, the Indian Ocean and the Groot River ...
in South Africa were from smallish species which weigh under in adulthood, 26.3% from "medium-sized" species with an adult weight of and 22.5% were from larger species with an adult weight of over .[Tarboton, W.R. & Allan, D.G. 1984. ''The Status and conservation of Birds of Prey in the Transvaal''. Pretoria: ]Transvaal Museum
The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City Hal ...
Monograph, No. 3. However, about 91% of 87 bones that were from the relatively large antelope species, amongst those that could be accurately sized, were from juvenile specimens.[ On the other hand, in the rainforest community of ]Taï National Park
Taï National Park () is a national park in Côte d'Ivoire that contains one of the last areas of primary rainforest in West Africa. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1982 due to the diversity of its flora and fauna. Five mammal sp ...
in the 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 ...
, the estimated average weight of prey for crowned eagles was clearly higher at . Of all other living eagles, only the female harpy eagle has been credited with an average prey weight range that is comparably high and, at the species level, the crowned eagle's prey size from the latter study is the largest of any known for all extant accipitrids.[ The crowned eagle is perhaps the only living accipitrid to routinely attack prey weighing in excess of .][ According to some authorities typical prey sizes for crowned eagle may be considered to range to at least in body mass.][Shultz, S. (2002). ''Population density, breeding chronology and diet of crowned eagles Stephanoaetus coronatus in Tai National Park, Ivory Coast''. Ibis, 144(1), 135-138.][McPherson, S. C., Brown, M., & Downs, C. T. (2016). ''Diet of the crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) in an urban landscape: potential for human-wildlife conflict?'' Urban ecosystems, 19(1), 383-396.] Reportedly, the crowned eagle can lift more than its own body weight in flight, though verified accounts of this are sparse.[Ginn, P.J., McIlleorn, W.G. & le S Milstein, P. 1989. ''The Complete Book of Southern African Birds''. Johnnesburg: Strake Winchester.]
In a deep forest, an adult eagle may cover a hunting range of up to , with the home ranges being smaller for those that inhabit rocky hills and cliffs abounding in hyrax
Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially simil ...
es. Eagles start hunting soon after dawn and mainly kill early in the morning and in the evening prior to sundown. Being a forest-dwelling species, the crowned eagle has no need to travel great distances to hunt, nor employ a great deal of active hunting flight (such as soaring seen in savannah
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 (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
-dwelling species). Rather, it tends to hunt passively.[ Crowned eagles may locate a suitable hunting spot by listening (such as via the call of the noisy ]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 ...
) or watching for prey activity, though may also use habitual hunting perches where they've previously had hunting successes. Although this behavior is unconfirmed, some crowned eagles have been reported to let out a soft whistle, unlike their other vocalizations which, for some reason, is attractive to monkeys and will then attack the first monkey to enter their line of sight. These eagles often still-hunt, wherein they drop or stoop onto prey from a branch perch. Following the sighting of suitable prey, the eagle quickly and stealthily maneuvers itself through the forest towards its prey, a certain element of surprise inherent in its final approach.[ A majority of the crowned eagle's kills are made on the forest floor. Arboreal prey may be forced to the ground during an attack.][ The sharp, powerful talons may produce sufficient force to kill the prey on impact; if not, death from trauma or ]asphyxiation
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...
soon follows.[ Several prey items have been killed by ramming the talons into the skull and penetrating the brain. Having killed on the ground, it has the ability to fly almost vertically upwards to a branch while carrying its prey before feeding, though it will tear up prey into manageable pieces on the ground when it is exceedingly heavy.] While they both attack somewhat similar prey in often similar habitat, the considerable difference in body weight and wing-loading between crowned and harpy eagles have been attributed to load-carrying while hunting, as harpies tend to capture and carry off most prey in active flight rather than an attack on the ground and dismember if necessary.
On rare occasions, crowned eagles may also hunt on the wing, flying slightly over the canopy and causing a cacophony amongst monkey groups until they detect and capture their prey, often a monkey or tree hyrax. Crowned eagles are believed to take uneaten portions of prey up into the trees to cache around the nest or habitual perches so that the pieces can be consumed over the course of the next several days.[ If the prey is too heavy for taking flight with, even after dismemberment, for example, a ]bushbuck
The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...
, crowned eagles have been known to cache food at the thickly vegetated base of a tree and only carry limbs to the nest.[ Pairs may collaborate in capturing prey, with one bird flushing the prey so the other can glide in unseen and ambush it.][ Female eagles may target male monkeys more often than males, which are more likely to hunt female or young monkeys.][ In one case, a female crowned eagle stalked a ]bushbuck
The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...
calf over the course of two days but was repeatedly foiled when it went in for the attack, either by the mother bushbuck or an associating troop of yellow baboon
The yellow baboon (''Papio cynocephalus'') is a baboon in the family of Old World monkeys. The species epithet means "dog-head" in Greek, due to the dog-like shape of the muzzle and head. Yellow baboons have slim bodies with long arms and legs, a ...
s (''Papio cyanocephalus''). However, the crowned eagle one day assaulted the bushbuck calf quickly, leaving it with a gaping wound on its flank, and flew off to observe from a distance. Within a few more days, the bleeding, wounded calf was unable to keep pace with its mother and was tracked and killed by the assaulting eagle.[ Another assault, this one on an adult male ]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 ...
(''Chlorocebus pygerythrus'') apparently had a similar outcome as the bushbuck attack.[ This type of strike-and-wait hunting technique may be used by diverse predators, from ]Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. It is the largest extant ...
s (''Varanus komodoensis'') to great white shark
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocean ...
s (''Carcharodon carcharias''), which tend to track their victims by scent after biting them rather than sight and sound, but is virtually unprecedented in birds.[ Crowned eagles have been recorded to consume carrion but this behavior has only rarely been observed.]
Primate
The crowned eagle occupies a unique niche, as it is the only bird in which 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 ...
s are the most commonly taken prey at the species level.[ While at least a dozen other accipitrids opportunistically hunt small or young ]monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s, only the harpy eagle
The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...
and, possibly, crested eagle
The crested eagle (''Morphnus guianensis'') is a large Neotropical eagle. It is the only member of the genus ''Morphnus''. The crested eagle can grow up to long, with a wingspan up to , and weigh up to . The plumage varies between a light br ...
of the neotropic
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
s have diets where primates may locally outnumber other prey. However, New World monkeys
New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboidea ...
are generally smaller and less formidable than Old World monkey
Old World monkey is the common English name for a family of primates known taxonomically as the Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons ...
s. Also, both other eagles may prefer different prey where available: harpy eagles primarily take sloth
Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their li ...
s, which can be as heavy as a colobus
Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subs ...
or mangabey
Mangabeys are West-African Old World monkeys, with species in three of the six genera of tribe Papionini.
The more typical representatives of ''Cercocebus'', also known as the white-eyelid mangabeys, are characterized by their bare, upper eye-l ...
but are much slower and less able to defend themselves, while crested eagles take a variety of tropical birds and arboreal mammals. Other large eagles have been confirmed to hunt adult Old World monkeys
Old World monkey is the common English name for a family of primates known taxonomically as the Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboon ...
, including 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,[Baldellou, M., & Peter Henzi, S. (1992). "Vigilance, predator detection and the presence of supernumerary males in vervet monkey troops'". ''Animal Behaviour'', 43(3), 451–461.] Verreaux's eagle
Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the Indian black eagle (''Ictinaetus malayensis''), which lives far to t ...
s, mountain hawk-eagle
The mountain hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus nipalensis'') or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself ...
s and 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 ...
s, whose generic scientific name and old common was even the monkey-eating eagle, but all are believed to rely on non-primate prey for the majority of their diet.[
The favored group in the crowned eagle's diet is certainly the genus '']Cercopithecus
The guenons (, ) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Cercopithecus'' (). Not all members of this genus have the word "guenon" in their common names; also, because of changes in scientific classification, some monkeys in other genera may have ...
''. In Kibale National Park, 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 ...
, the red-tailed monkey
The red-tailed monkey (''Cercopithecus ascanius''), also known as the black-cheeked white-nosed monkey, red-tailed guenon, redtail monkey, or Schmidt's guenon, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae.
It is found in Angola, Cameroo ...
(''Cercopithecus ascanius'') was the most represented prey species, making up 40% of the remains. Slightly larger monkeys, such as western red colobus (''Piliocolobus badius''), mantled guereza
The mantled guereza (''Colobus guereza''), also known simply as the guereza, the eastern black-and-white colobus, or the Abyssinian black-and-white colobus, is a black-and-white colobus, a type of Old World monkey. It is native to much of west ...
(''Colobus guereza'') and grey-cheeked mangabey
The grey-cheeked mangabey (''Lophocebus albigena''), also known as the white-cheeked mangabey, is an Old World monkey found in the forests of Central Africa. It ranges from Cameroon down to Gabon. The grey-cheeked mangabey is a dark monkey, looki ...
(''Lophocebus albigena'') were secondary in the prior study and, altogether, primates made up 82.2% of the remains from two nests there. A total of 88% of the remains found around crowned eagle nests in the Ituri Rainforest
The Ituri Rainforest is a rainforest located in the Ituri Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The forest's name derives from the nearby Ituri River which flows through the rainforest, connecting firstly to the Aruwimi Ri ...
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
were from primates: blue monkey
The blue monkey or diademed monkey (''Cercopithecus mitis'') is a species of Old World monkey native to Central and East Africa, ranging from the upper Congo River basin east to the East African Rift and south to northern Angola and Zambia. It ...
(''Cercopithecus mitis''), red-tailed monkey
The red-tailed monkey (''Cercopithecus ascanius''), also known as the black-cheeked white-nosed monkey, red-tailed guenon, redtail monkey, or Schmidt's guenon, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae.
It is found in Angola, Cameroo ...
, Wolf's mona monkey
Wolf's mona monkey (''Cercopithecus wolfi''), also called Wolf's guenon, is a colourful Old World monkey in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in central Africa, primarily between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. It lives in ...
(''C. wolfi''), western red colobus and a mixture of mangabey
Mangabeys are West-African Old World monkeys, with species in three of the six genera of tribe Papionini.
The more typical representatives of ''Cercocebus'', also known as the white-eyelid mangabeys, are characterized by their bare, upper eye-l ...
s and black-and-white colobus. In 16 nests in the 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 ...
's Taï Forest, more than 60% of remains around the eyries were monkeys and more than 45% of remains were from ''Cercopithecus'' monkeys. About half of the ''Cercopithecus'' remains were from Diana monkey
The Diana monkey (''Cercopithecus diana'') is an Old World monkey found in the high canopy forests in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and western Côte d’Ivoire. Named for its white brow which is said to resemble the bow of the Roman goddess Diana, thi ...
(''C. diana''; 44 items from 28 adults and 16 immatures), with the other half from Campbell's mona monkey
Campbell's mona monkey (''Cercopithecus campbelli''), also known as Campbell's guenon and Campbell's monkey, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae found in the Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, ...
(''C. campbelli'') and lesser spot-nosed monkey
The lesser spot-nosed monkey (''Cercopithecus petaurista''), also known as the lesser spot-nosed guenon, lesser white-nosed guenon, or lesser white-nosed monkey, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, G ...
(''C. petaurista''), which were indistinguishable as remains. Other represented monkeys in the Taï Forest included the Western red colobus, the olive colobus
The olive colobus monkey (''Procolobus verus''), also known as the green colobus or Van Beneden's colobus, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. Its English name refers to its dull olive upperparts. It is the smallest example ...
(''Procolobus verus'') and the 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''). The diet is, by necessity, more diverse in Kiwengwa/Pongwe Forest Reserve in the Matumbi Hills of 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 ...
but the blue monkey
The blue monkey or diademed monkey (''Cercopithecus mitis'') is a species of Old World monkey native to Central and East Africa, ranging from the upper Congo River basin east to the East African Rift and south to northern Angola and Zambia. It ...
was still the most represented prey species, making up 20% of the remains. In one nest in the prior study, the Blue monkey made up more than 90% of the remains.[Msuya, C. A. (1993). "FEEDING HABITS OF CROWNED EAGLES Stephanoaetus coronatus IN KIWENGOMA FOREST RESERVE, MATUMBI HILLS, TANZANIA". In ''Annales Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale''. Sciences Zoologiques (Vol. 268).] Where they overlap in range, the 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 ...
can be quite prominent as prey for crowned eagles, as their relatively small size, diurnal and terrestrial habits may make them more vulnerable.
Struhsaker and Leakey found that adult male monkeys were often better represented in the diet than adult females.[ This may be a result of the behavior of male primates. In some species, only adult males often travel separately from social groups, only adult males take aggressive action against eagles, and only adult males have loud calls that may attract the attention of eagles.][ The variation in behavior of primates is illustrated so that in red colobus species, in which adult males patrol in mixed groups, the males are rarely attacked; meanwhile in the black-and-white colobus, in which adult males often patrol alone, male are regularly attacked and killed by crowned eagles.][ However, adult monkeys (52%) were found in almost equal measure as juvenile monkeys (at 48%) in Uganda.][
As various species and ages of primates are taken, primate prey varies in size. All diurnal African monkeys weigh in excess of in adulthood.] African primates weighing under , are almost entirely arboreal and nocturnal.[ However, such primates, are actually allies of ]lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 exist ...
s rather than monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s, may occasionally also be hunted by crowned eagles. Potto
The pottos are three species of strepsirrhine primate in the genus ''Perodicticus'' of the family Lorisidae. In some English-speaking parts of Africa, they are called "softly-softlys".
Etymology
The common name "potto" may be from Wolof (a t ...
(''Perodicticus potto'') are notable secondary prey in the Tai Forest and various 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 have been found across the range, such as in the Kiwengwa/Pongwe Forest Reserve where they made up 7.5% of the remains.[ Although no one has seen the eagles catch these primates, it is thought pottos and galagos are likely to be taken if discovered by an eagle while sleeping in dense ]foliage
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, s ...
during the day.[ Among monkeys, Cercopithecine monkeys are on the small side. Full-grown female ''Cercopithecus'' can range in average weight from and males from depending on species.][Novak, R. M. 1999. ''Walker's Mammals of the World.'' 6th edition. ]Johns Hopkins University Press
The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...
, Baltimore. Other major prey, such as 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 typically weighing in males and in females, but up to . Mangabey
Mangabeys are West-African Old World monkeys, with species in three of the six genera of tribe Papionini.
The more typical representatives of ''Cercocebus'', also known as the white-eyelid mangabeys, are characterized by their bare, upper eye-l ...
s and most colobus monkey
Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subs ...
s are larger, weighing considerably in excess of at maturity.[ The adults of these species taken by crowned eagles usually weigh in males and in females,][ but ]olive colobus
The olive colobus monkey (''Procolobus verus''), also known as the green colobus or Van Beneden's colobus, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. Its English name refers to its dull olive upperparts. It is the smallest example ...
are smaller, weighing less than , and large adults of western red colobus and Sooty mangabey
The sooty mangabey (''Cercocebus atys'') is an Old World monkey found in forests from Senegal in a margin along the coast down to the Ivory Coast.
Habitat and ecology
The sooty mangabey is native to tropical West Africa, being found in Guinea, G ...
s can weigh up to .[Gilbert, C. C., McGraw, W. S., & Delson, E. (2009). ''Brief communication: Plio‐Pleistocene eagle predation on fossil cercopithecids from the Humpata Plateau, southern Angola''. American journal of physical anthropology, 139(3), 421–429.] Larger 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 ...
, mantled guereza
The mantled guereza (''Colobus guereza''), also known simply as the guereza, the eastern black-and-white colobus, or the Abyssinian black-and-white colobus, is a black-and-white colobus, a type of Old World monkey. It is native to much of west ...
and black-and-white colobus can weigh up to in adult males. Based on observation and literature, any monkey of a weight of up to may reportedly be hunted.
The crowned eagle's diet may extend to the young and juveniles of 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 similar species. yellow baboon
The yellow baboon (''Papio cynocephalus'') is a baboon in the family of Old World monkeys. The species epithet means "dog-head" in Greek, due to the dog-like shape of the muzzle and head. Yellow baboons have slim bodies with long arms and legs, a ...
s, olive baboon
The olive baboon (''Papio anubis''), also called the Anubis baboon, is a member of the family Cercopithecidae Old World monkeys. The species is the most wide-ranging of all baboons, being native to 25 countries throughout Africa, extending fr ...
s (''Papio anubis''), chacma baboon
The chacma baboon (''Papio ursinus''), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide vari ...
s (''P. ursinus''), drills
A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driverchuck. Hand-operated types are dramatically decreasing in popularity and cordless battery-powered ones proliferating due to i ...
(''Mandrillus leucophaeus'') and mandrill
The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males ...
s (''M. sphinx''), all falling into the above maximum primate weight bracket and all have been successfully hunted. In 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 ...
, remains of three adults chacma baboon
The chacma baboon (''Papio ursinus''), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide vari ...
s were found in the nest remain, suggesting adult female baboons can be possibly preyed upon.[Boshoff, A. F., et al. "Comparison of the diet of crowned eagles in the savanna and forest biomes of south-eastern South Africa." South African Journal of Wildlife Research-24-month delayed open access 24.1 (1994): 26-31.] In many cases, baboons and drills may be actively avoided, as the adult males of these species, at up to twice as heavy as the female, are probably invulnerable to hunting and tend to be notoriously violent-tempered. In one case, olive baboons destroyed the nest of a crowned eagle pair after one of the eagles killed a baby in the baboon group. When experimentally exposed to an image of a crowned eagle, a dominant male mandrill reacted aggressively towards it, implying that they will keep eagles at bay to protect the more vulnerable members of their troop. The crowned eagle is considered a potential predator of infant chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
s (''Pan troglodytes'') and bonobo
The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the comm ...
s (''P. paniscus''), although this is unconfirmed. Although rarely observed, some monkeys will "bait" crowned eagles, which harass and provoke them. Leslie Brown described Sykes' monkey
Sykes' monkey (''Cercopithecus albogularis''), also known as the white-throated monkey or Samango monkey, is an Old World monkey found between Ethiopia and South Africa, including south and east Democratic Republic of Congo. It is named after Eng ...
s (''Cercopithecus albogularis'') as rarely baiting eagles "with the insolent impunity of an expert tolero with a bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions,
includin ...
".[
]
Ungulate
Outside of the rainforest, the crowned eagle's diet tends to be somewhat more diverse. While they may take monkeys on a relatively small scale, other families, largely the 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 are the leading prey.[ In some wooded hillside nests in ]Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, about half of the remains were from small antelope. The predominant prey species there is the Suni (''Neotragus moschatus''). In the Matumbi Hills of Tanzania, antelope make up about 30% of the dietary intake at nests, much of this being the Suni again.[ Adults antelope of a similarly small size to the Suni, around or slightly less, are readily hunted, such as ]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 ...
(''Madoqua kirkii'') and the blue duiker
The blue duiker (''Philantomba monticola'') is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspecies are i ...
(''Philantomba monticola''). Larger antelopes, often weighing around as adults, may be attacked (mainly calves but also an occasional adult), including klipspringer
The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zim ...
(''Oreotragus oreotragus''), steenbok (''Raphicerus campestris''), 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 ...
(''R. sharpei'') and about a half dozen smallish duiker
A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophina ...
s (especially the red forest duiker (''Cephalophus natalensis'')).[ National Geographic recorded a video depicting a crowned eagle stalking a ]water chevrotain
The water chevrotain (''Hyemoschus aquaticus''), also known as the fanged deer, is a small ruminant found in tropical Africa. This is the only species in the genus ''Hyemoschus''. It is the largest of the 10 species of chevrotains, basal even-t ...
(''Hyemoschus aquaticus'') (the only Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n representative of a small-bodied, deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
-like family) along a rainforest river but show the chevrotain evading the eagle by submerging and swimming away from it. Amongst even bigger antelope species that may be hunted, such as bushbuck
The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...
, Thomson's gazelle
Thomson's gazelle (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') is one of the best known species of gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and is sometimes referred to as a "tommie". It is considered by some to be a subspecies of the red-fronted gazelle a ...
(''Eudorcas thomsonii''), grey rhebok
The grey rhebok or gray rhebuck (''Pelea capreolus''), locally known as the ''reebok'' in Afrikaans, is a species of antelope native to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini (Swaziland). The specific name ''capreolus'' is Latin for 'little goat' ...
(''Pelea capreolus'') and impala (''Aepyceros melampus''), calves are usually taken but sometimes small adult females may be hunted. The biggest duikers to have been killed weighed an estimated .[ The heaviest accurately weighed bushbuck to be killed by a crowned eagle scaled , but other ones killed by eagles that have been larger include one around and another estimated at , or about eight times the eagle's own weight.][ Furthermore, the remains of another adult-sized bushbuck estimated to weigh were found as the prey of crowned eagles in ]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 ...
. An even more extreme body size estimated for a bushbuck kill was .[Steyn, P. (2001). On the rapacity of Crowned Eagles. Honeyguide. 47(1): 94-95.]
The taking of ungulates on a large scale, unlike primates, is not unique to the crowned eagle. The martial eagle was reported 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- ...
to hunt mainly dik-dik
A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa.
Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. Dik- ...
s and elsewhere has exceptionally killed large duiker weighing up to .[ Equally or even more impressive feats of ungulate-hunting have been credited to the ]wedge-tailed eagle
The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...
(''Aquila audax'') and especially the golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...
, despite these being considered less powerful than the crowned eagle.[ Both ''Aquila'' take mainly neonatal lambs and ]deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
fawns but can attack adult sheep and other large prey (i.e. full-grown kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
s, emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...
s, pronghorn
The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...
s, reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
, etc.). Even a bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
(''Haliaeetus leucocephalus''), usually target aquatic preys, was reportedly witnessed killing a pregnant adult sheep ewe. The largest prey attacked by any living raptor is probably the up to domestic calves attacked and killed by golden eagles. All four currently recognized species of hyrax have been hunted by crowned eagles. The greatest level of predation for this family has been directed at Southern tree hyrax
The southern tree hyrax (''Dendrohyrax arboreus''), also known as the southern tree dassie, is a species of mammal in the family Procaviidae. The southern tree hyrax is mainly found in the south central eastern side of Africa.
Description
The so ...
(''Dendrohyrax arboreus''), but when they become locally abundant, rock 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'') can become the species' preferred prey.[
]
Other prey
Hyrax
Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially simil ...
es are known to be a major source of prey outsides of the rainforest. Other mammals have been recorded as opportunistic prey, including bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...
s, 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 ...
s (''Lepus'' sp.), springhares (''Pedetes'' sp.), cane rat
The genus ''Thryonomys'', also known as the cane rats or grasscutters, is a genus of rodent found throughout Africa south of the Sahara, the only members of the family Thryonomyidae. They are eaten in some African countries and are a pest species ...
s (''Thryonomys'' sp.), sun squirrels (''Heliosciurus'' sp.) and four-toed elephant shrew
The four-toed elephant shrew or four-toed sengi (''Petrodromus tetradactylus'') is the only living species in the genus ''Petrodromus'', which together with five other extant genera ''Rhynchocyon'', '' Macroscelides'', '' Petrosaltator'', '' Gale ...
(''Petrodromus tetradactylus'').[ Despite their obvious defenses and nocturnal habits, small ]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
left, 180px, head
Cape porcupines are the second large ...
s (''Hystrix africaeaustralis'') have reportedly been taken in South Africa.[ These assorted mammals, generally smaller than primates and ungulates, are typically taken when preferred prey species are locally scarce.] Mammalian carnivores are sometimes also hunted ranging from smaller types such as yellow mongoose
The yellow mongoose (''Cynictis penicillata''), sometimes referred to as the red meerkat, is a member of the mongoose family. It averages about in weight and about in length. It lives in open country, semi-desert scrubland and grasslands in An ...
(''Cynictis penicillata''), 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''), cusimanses, African palm civet
The African palm civet (''Nandinia binotata''), also known as the two-spotted palm civet, is a small feliform mammal widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Characteristics
The African palm ...
(''Nandinia binotata'') or genets to larger varieties such as adult African wildcat
The African wildcat (''Felis lybica'') is a small wildcat species native to Africa, West and Central Asia up to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2022.
In Cyprus, an African wil ...
s (''Felis lybica'') and black-backed jackals (''Canis mesomelas'').[
Adult eagles will only resort to hunting large ]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 when mammals are scarce, but in southern Africa, they can be a fairly common component of the diet. Bird prey can include 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 ...
, francolin
Francolins are birds in the tribe Gallini that traditionally have been placed in the genus ''Francolinus'', but now commonly are divided into multiple genera.
As previously defined, they were paraphyletic as the genus '' Pternistis'', which wa ...
s, ibis
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word ...
, 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, ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...
chicks (''Struthio camelus'') and the fledglings of 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 ...
s and 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.[ One nest even had the remains of a marabou stork (''Leptoptilos crumeniferus''), which is a formidable species not usually susceptible to avian predators.][ ]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 may be the most widely represented bird in the diet and the black-casqued wattled hornbill (''Ceratogymna atrata'') reacts strongly to both the call of crowned eagles and the alarm calls of monkeys specified to the eagles (which are separately identifiable from the monkey's leopard-related alarm calls to both humans and, apparently, hornbills).[ In ]Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, 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, including venomous varieties, may regularly supplement the diet.[ ]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 may also be hunted and, as in the martial eagle, the crowned eagle may attack even the largest African monitors, the adult Nile monitor
The Nile monitor (''Varanus niloticus'') is a large member of the monitor family (Varanidae) found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa and along the Nile, with invasive populations in North America. The population in West African forests and ...
(''Varanus niloticus'') and the rock monitor
The rock monitor (''Varanus albigularis'') is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to Central, East, and southern Africa. It is the second-longest lizard found on the continent, and the heaviest-bodied; lo ...
(''V. albigularis'').[
Domestic animals, including ]chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
(''Gallus gallus domesticus''), turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
s (''Meleagris gallopavo''), cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
s (''Felis catus''), small to medium-sized dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
s (''Canis familiaris''), small pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...
s (''Sus domesticus''), lambs (''Ovis aries''), and goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s (''Capra hircus''), are taken only when wild prey is greatly depleted.[ Juveniles and subadults, may take unconventional prey more frequently than adults.
]
Interspecies conflicts and mortality
In the rainforest interior, the crowned eagle occupies a unique niche and it is, by far, the largest and most dominant raptorial bird in such areas. Other large predators that may exploit similar prey in the same forested habitats include leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
(''Panthera pardus''), African golden cat
The African golden cat (''Caracal aurata'') is a wild cat endemic to the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is threatened due to deforestation and bushmeat hunting and listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It is a close relative o ...
(''Profelis aurata''), Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...
(''Crocodylus niloticus''), dwarf crocodile (''Osteolaemus tetraspis''), 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 ...
(''Python sebae''), chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
and larger monkeys, like mandrill
The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males ...
and 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.[ All of these competitors are much heavier bodied than a crowned eagle, ranging in size from the golden cat to the Nile crocodile. While the reptiles usually hunt on the ground or near water, ]felids
Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the dom ...
, large monitor lizards and baboons can be assured thieves who will climb trees and take crowned eagle kills.[ In a comparison of the monkey-based diets of rainforest crowned eagles with leopards and chimpanzees, the big cat was estimated to take prey averaging , about twice the average estimated prey weight for crowned eagles in the same ecosystem, and the great ape , about a kilogram more than that of the crowned eagle.][ In South Africa, it is reported that ]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
left, 180px, head
Cape porcupines are the second large ...
s and bushpig
:''"Bush pig" may also refer to the red river hog.
The bushpig (''Potamochoerus larvatus'') is a member of the pig family that inhabits forests, woodland, riverine vegetation and cultivated areas in East and Southern Africa. Probably introduce ...
s (''Potamochoerus larvatus'') are attracted to trees used for prey consumption by crowned eagles, in order to scavenge the sinew and bone that's discarded to the ground.[ In more mixed eastern and southern habitats, the diversity of large predators is higher and the crowned eagle, despite its great power, is not assured at the top of the avian food chain. Amongst the more formidable raptors, the martial, the Verreaux's, and the crowned eagles, may live on the same hillside and all hunt ]hyrax
Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially simil ...
es. While the Verreaux's eagle is something of a rock 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 ...
specialist, the martial eagle, even more so than the crowned eagle, has an extremely broad prey base. All these eagles will readily steal the prey caught by the other raptors. However, the great eagles are segregated by both their habitat preferences and main hunting techniques, which make it possible for the species to successfully nest within a few kilometers of one another. While the crowned eagle lives in denser woods and hunts from a perch, the martial eagle tends to live in more open wooded savanna habitats and tends to hunt on the wing at a high flying height (thanks to its superb vision) and the Verreaux's eagle lives in precipitous mountain habitats and tends to contour-hunt, hugging the uneven contours of the rocks while flying, only a few meters high. Like the martial eagle, the crowned eagle has been known to prey on smaller raptorial birds.[
Young and inexperienced crowned eagles may be killed as prey by large carnivores. Two eagles reintroduced into the wild were killed by predators, one by a leopard that surprised a male on a monkey kill in the rain, and the other by a crocodile that took a female as she ate a young bushbuck kill near the water's edge.][ In Kenya, cases of predation on nestlings and fledglings have reportedly involved ]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 liste ...
s (''Mellivora capensis'') and cobras.[ In one extraordinary case, an adult male ]Sanje mangabey
The Sanje mangabey (''Cercocebus sanjei'') is a highly endangered Old World monkey of the white-eyelid mangabey group from the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania. They are about in length, excluding the tail, and their body colour is greyish. Fru ...
(''Cercocebus sanjei''), estimated to weigh , attacked an adult female crowned eagle that was trying to hunt his troop, jumping onto her back when she was in mid-flight and killing her with a strong bite. This is the first confirmed instance of a monkey killing an adult crowned eagle. In one case, a female who tried to hunt an adult female baboon was found seriously wounded after a male baboon interceded, though the eagle was captured, medically treated, and lived in captivity.[ In another case involving potential prey turning the tables, an eagle that was trying to hunt an incubating female ]Egyptian goose
The Egyptian goose (''Alopochen aegyptiaca'') is a member of the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. It is native to Africa south of the Sahara and the Nile Valley.
Egyptian geese were considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians, and appear ...
(''Alopochen aegyptiacus'') was quickly attacked by her mate, who flew at the eagle and bit repeatedly at it, causing the eagle to quickly withdraw.[ The average life expectancy for crowned eagles is 14 years.]
Relationship with humans
Attacks on humans
While several smaller raptorial birds will attack humans if they come too close to the nesting site, usually these have minor consequences for the human victim. Mother crowned eagles, in the post-fledging stage, readily attack any human who comes close to the nest. Adult males may also attack humans before fledging but only do so rarely.[ Despite the size and power of the ]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 ...
, attacks by the eagles may have minor consequences as well since the attacks are meant only to displace and not kill or seriously maim the intruding animal. However, nest-defense attacks may nonetheless possibly result in deep, painful, open wounds, which can lead to risk of infection or the need for stitches.
The crowned eagle is perhaps the only extant raptorial bird which has been believed to attack human children as prey. In one case, a 7-year-old boy, of a weight of approximately , was ambushed by a crowned eagle, who gouged its talons through the boy's throat and chest. The attack was ended by a woman who came upon them and rescued the child by bludgeoning the eagle to death with a hoe.[ In another case, the skull of a human child was found in the nest of a crowned eagle pair.][ In yet another instance, when assisting in the investigation of the disappearance of a four-year-old girl, Simon Thomsett came to believe she was the victim of a crowned eagle after the severed arm of a child was found in a tall tree that was inaccessible to leopards and known to be used as a crowned eagle cache.][
One other living eagle, the ]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 ...
(''Polemaetus bellicosus''), has been confirmed to take a human child in a possible predation attempt, a four-year-old boy in 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 ...
. Unlike the crowned eagle, the martial eagle is not a specialized primate hunter, and preys mainly on large ground-dwelling birds. The eagle in question attacked three children, killing one of them, before being shot by a villager. In the famed Taung
Taung is a small town situated in the North West Province of South Africa. The name means ''place of the lion'' and was named after Tau, the King of the Barolong. ''Tau'' is the Tswana word for lion.
Education
High,Secondary and Middle Schools ...
deposit in South Africa, a skull from a child ''Australopithecus africanus
''Australopithecus africanus'' is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived between about 3.3 and 2.1 million years ago in the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of South Africa. The species has been recovered from Taung, Sterkfonte ...
'', a possible ancestor of human being
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedality, bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex Human brain, brain. This has enabled the development of ad ...
s, led to considerable speculation. Ultimately referred to as the Taung Child
The Taung Child (or Taung Baby) is the fossilised skull of a young ''Australopithecus africanus''. It was discovered in 1924 by quarrymen working for the Northern Lime Company in Taung, South Africa. Raymond Dart described it as a new species ...
and estimated to weigh , the child became the type specimen for its species. The child appeared to have died from a clean row of piercing to its skull. Scholarly examination of the piercings has led scientists to believe that the specimen was seemingly killed by an eagle, of which the crowned eagle is the most likely candidate.[ This predatory relationship has led to much hypothesizing as to whether ''Stephanoaetus'' eagles may have partially shaped human evolution, with small early primate ancestors having evolved towards larger body sizes and larger brains due to the reduced probability of eagle predation with these features.][
]
Conservation status
The crowned eagle is fairly common in suitable habitat, though at the population level, its numbers have shown a decline in sync with deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
. Declines appear to be widespread and may be increasing due to the often fevered pace of clear-cutting.[ This species main habitat is rich, high-canopy forest, which is a major target of timber companies, agriculturists, palm oil and biofuel plantations and miners as well as slash and burn farmers. A ]charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
-based economy outdoes mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
-based economics in 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 Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
, both fuel wars and makes inroads deep into previously virgin forests.[ As two of central Africa's largest businesses, this has a devastating effect on forests and wildlife. Charcoal taken from ]Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
and 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 ...
is often thought to finance Somali warlords.[ ]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 ...
, which is more heavily developed for agriculture (largely today for biofuel) than adjacent Kenya, has even more reduced forest habitat.[ The crowned eagle is far more common in protected areas and reserves than elsewhere in its range, though is still recorded consistently outside of these areas. Biologists in Africa now suspect that the crowned eagles adaptability to small, fragmented tracts of woodland has been exaggerated in the past.][ Some habitat losses have been offset by the establishment of exotic tree plantations, where this species can nest, but which generally lack a sufficient prey base.][ The crowned eagle in ]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 ...
is certainly at very low density and restricted to protected areas. It may be obliged to utilize exotics stands, but it is unlikely to ever be capable of surviving in the complete absence of indigenous (and thus prey productive) forests.[ Certain southern African countries, such as ]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 ...
and 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 ...
, have almost no extensive stands of native forest today, while other countries such as 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 ...
were never heavily forested.[ In 2012 the species status was changed to ]Near Threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
by 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 ...
. Like the 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 ...
, the crowned has throughout modern history been persecuted by farmers, who maintain that the bird is a threat to their livestock.[ In fact, both the crowned and martial eagles only rarely attack livestock.][ In some cases, however, crowned eagles have actually been killed while attempting to hunt domestic animals.][ Another cause for persecution of the species is that crowned eagles are considered competitors in the illegal bushmeat and poaching trades. Within the forest land-locked countries of Africa, the bushmeat trade is the largest source of animal protein for humans.][Topp-Jørgensen, E., Nielsen, M. R., Marshall, A. R., & Pedersen, U. (2009). ''Relative densities of mammals in response to different levels of bushmeat hunting in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania''. Tropical Conservation Science, 2(1), 70–87.] It is a multibillion-dollar business with some 5 million tons (mostly small antelopes and monkeys, the crowned eagle's staple diet) being killed each year. In just 500 million acres of the Congo Basin
The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...
owned by 8 countries the weight equivalent to 40.7 million humans is removed each year (or 740,000 bull elephants). The effect of this unsustainable culling is to severely depress or remove the large, medium and small wildlife species of the forests. Crowned eagles require some of "bush meat" a year and thus directly compete with the industry.[ The ]red colobus
Red colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Piliocolobus''. It was formerly considered a subgenus within the genus ''Procolobus'', which is now restricted to the olive colobus. They are closely related to the black-and-white colobus monke ...
, a monkey that typifies the optimal forest quality and is a main food species for crowned eagles, has been singled out as one of the fastest declining and most endangered monkeys in the world due primarily to the bushmeat trade. In some cases, crowned eagles have reportedly even been shot by primate conservationists in a misguided attempt to mitigate their predation of declining primate species.[ It is estimated that 90% of the global distribution of the crowned eagle may be subject to habitual persecution or is even killed and eaten itself as bushmeat.][ On the other hand, some educated foresters and fruit-growers actually encourage protection of populations, due to the controlling effect crowned eagles have on populations of potentially harmful mammals.][ In April 1996 the world's first captive-born crowned eagle hatched at the ]San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a p ...
. Among ISIS
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
registered zoos, only San Diego Zoo, San Francisco Zoo
The San Francisco Zoo is a zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The SF Zoo is a public institution, managed by the non-profit San Francisco Zoologi ...
, Los Angeles Zoo
The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens is a zoo founded in 1966 and located in Los Angeles, California. The city of Los Angeles owns the entire zoo, its land and facilities, and the animals. Animal care, grounds maintenance, construction, ed ...
, Fort Worth Zoo
The Fort Worth Zoo is a zoo in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, that was founded in 1909 with one lion, two bear cubs, an alligator, a coyote, a peacock and a few rabbits. The zoo now is home to 7,000 native and exotic animals and has been nam ...
and Lowry Park Zoo
ZooTampa at Lowry Park (formerly known as Lowry Park Zoo or Lowry Park Zoological Garden) is a nonprofit zoo located in Tampa, Florida. In 2009, Lowry Park Zoo was voted the #1 Family Friendly Zoo in the US by Parents Magazine, and is recognize ...
house this species.[ISIS (2010). ]
Stephanoaetus coronatus.
' Version 27 October 2010 Several wildlife rehabilitation centers in Africa house crowned eagles.[ Due to their high-strung dispositions, tendency for aggression towards humans and resistance to hunting prey via coercion and hunger, the crowned eagle is often considered to be poorly suited for ]falconry
Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...
. However, there are several eagles of this species used as such in England and sometimes in Africa, where they have been reportedly used to cull locally overpopulated feral dogs.[
]
References
External links
* Crowned eagle
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q591640
Eagles
Stephanoaetus
Birds of prey of Sub-Saharan Africa
Birds of Central Africa
Near threatened animals
Near threatened biota of Africa
Birds described in 1766
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus