The black eagle (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') is a bird of prey. Like all
eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
s, it is in the family
Accipitridae
The Accipitridae is one of the three families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-s ...
, and is the only member of the genus ''Ictinaetus''. They soar over
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 in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, as well as southeastern China. They hunt mammals and birds, particularly at their
nest
A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...
s. They are easily identified by their widely splayed and long primary "fingers", the characteristic silhouette, slow flight and yellow ceres and legs that contrast with their dark feathers.
Taxonomy and systematics
The species name is spelt ''malayensis'' in most publications but the original spelling used by Temminck in his description uses the spelling ''malaiensis'' according to a 2011 finding of some of the original covers of the part publications leading to taxonomists applying the principle of priority and rejecting any later spelling emendations.
Subspecies
*''Ictinaetus malaiensis malaiensis'' - Myanmar to S China, SE Asia and Indonesia
*''Ictinaetus malaiensis perniger'' - N India and Nepal; s India and Sri Lanka
Description
The black eagle is a large but slender eagle, at about in length and in
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
. Despite its large appearance (it is one of the largest eagles in its range), known weights are relatively modest, at between , about half the weight of the partially sympatric
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 ...
, the latter being of a similar total length. Adults have all-black plumage, with a yellow bill base (
cere
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, ...
) and feet. The wings are long and pinched in at the innermost primaries giving a distinctive shape. The tail shows faint barring and upper tail covers are paler. When perched the wing tips reach till or exceed the tail tip. The wings are held in a shallow V (wings just above the horizontal plane) in flight. Seen on hot afternoons, scouring the treetops for a nest to maraud, this bird is easily spotted by its jet black colour, large size, and a characteristic slow flight, sometimes just above the canopy.
Sexes are similar, but young birds have a buff head, underparts and underwing coverts. The wing shape helps to distinguish this species from the dark form of
changeable hawk-eagle
The changeable hawk-eagle ''(Nisaetus cirrhatus)'' or crested hawk-eagle is a large bird of prey species of the family Accipitridae. More informal or antiquated English common names include the marsh hawk-eagle or Indian crested hawk-eagle.Ferguso ...
, (''Nisaetus cirrhatus''). The tarsi are fully feathered and the toes are relatively stout and short with long claws (particularly on the inner toe) that are less strongly curved than in other birds of prey.
Distribution and habitat
The black eagle breeds in tropical and subtropical
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
. Race ''perniger'' (Hodgson, 1836) is found in the
Himalaya
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
n foothills west through Nepal into the Indian states of
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
and
Jammu & Kashmir, and in the forests of the Eastern and
Western Ghats in peninsular
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The bird's westernmost extent is from
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, especially in the forested areas in southern and eastern Gujarat. The species also extends into the Aravalli range of northwestern India. The nominate race ''malaiensis'' (Temminck, 1822) is found in Burma, southern China (Yunnan, Fujian) and Taiwan, into Southeast Asia. They are generally residents and no migrations have been observed. In a study in southern India, it was found to favour forests with good forest cover and was absent from areas where the cover was less than 50%.
Behaviour and ecology
Breeding
The courtship display involves steep dives with folded wings with swoops up in a U shape into a vertical stall.
They build a platform nest, 3 to 4 feet wide, on a tall tree overlooking a steep valley. One or two white eggs which are blotched in brown and mauve may be laid during the nesting season between January and April. The nest site may be reused year after year.
File:Black eagle 9.jpg, Black eagle nest
File:Black eagle 6.jpg, Black eagle bringing materials for nesting.
File:Black Eagle in Kaggalipura.JPG, The primaries are long and well splayed out in slow flight
Food and feeding
The black eagle eats
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s (including bats,
squirrels and other small mammals),
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 eggs. It is a prolific nest-predator and is known for its slow flight just over the canopy.
The curved claws and wide gape allow it to pick up eggs of birds from nests as well as swiftlets from caves.
Along with
swallow-tailed kite
The swallow-tailed kite (''Elanoides forficatus'') is a pernine raptor which breeds from the southeastern United States to eastern Peru and northern Argentina. It is the only species in the genus ''Elanoides''. Most North and Central American b ...
s they share the unique habit of carrying away an entire nest with nestlings to a feeding perch. Squirrels, macaques and many species of birds emit alarm calls when these birds are spotted soaring over the forest. The
Indian giant squirrel
The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (''Ratufa indica'') is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel.
Distribution and hab ...
has been noted as a prey of this species and young
bonnet macaque
The bonnet macaque (''Macaca radiata''), also known as zati,Chambers English Dictionary is a species of macaque endemic to southern India. Its distribution is limited by the Indian Ocean on three sides and the Godavari and Tapti Rivers, along wi ...
s may also fall prey to them.
Threats and survival
It is not threatened but uncommon in large areas in its distribution. Shrinking of forested areas due to large-scale extraction has reduced its earlier range.
Relationship to humans
Due to this eagle's ability to remain aloft for long periods with minimal effort, the
Lepcha people
The Lepcha (; also called Rongkup ( Lepcha: , ''Mútuncí Róngkup Rumkup'', "beloved children of the Róng and of God") and Rongpa ( Sikkimese: )) are among the indigenous peoples of the Indian state of Sikkim and Nepal, and number around 80,0 ...
of India's
Darjeeling district
Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its hill station and Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is the district headquarters.
Kurseon ...
described it as a bird that never sat down, while the
Soliga people
Soliga, also spelled Solega, Sholaga and Shōlaga, is an ethnic group of India. Its members inhabit the mountain ranges mostly in the Chamarajanagar district of southern Karnataka and Erode district of Tamil Nadu. Many are concentrated in the Bil ...
's name (''Kaana Kattale )'' recalls its black colour and its presence in relatively forested areas.
References
External links
Internet Bird CollectionNotes on the species in JavaCall and sonogramVideo of pair bathing in stream near nesting site
Historical publications
Illustrationand description (in French) by Temminck (''Pl. Col.'' vol. 1, plate 117, pages 104–105.)
* 1836 origina
descriptionof Nepalese race as ''Aquila Pernigra'' by
B. H. Hodgson (now a subspecies ''I. m. perniger'').
* 184
proposal of new genus''Heteropus'' by Hodgson, separated from ''Aquila'' based on the unusual form of the black eagle's foot. With a footnote by Blyth noting that
Jerdon had sent specimens to the museum labeled ''Ictinaëtus ovivorus''. Text and illustration.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q795439
black eagle
The black eagle (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus ''Ictinaetus''. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical South ...
black eagle
The black eagle (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus ''Ictinaetus''. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical South ...
Birds of South Asia
Birds of India
Birds of Southeast Asia
Birds of Taiwan
black eagle
The black eagle (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus ''Ictinaetus''. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical South ...