The tawny eagle (''Aquila rapax'') is a large
bird of prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...
. Like all
eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
s, it belongs to the family ''
Accipitridae
The Accipitridae is one of the three families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-s ...
''. Its heavily feathered legs mark it as a member of the 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 ...
, also known as booted eagles.
[Helbig, A. J., Kocum, A., Seibold, I., & Braun, M. J. (2005). ''A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level''. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 35(1), 147-164.] Tawny eagles have an extensive but discontinuous breeding range that constitutes much of the
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 continent as well as the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
, with rare residency in the southern
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
.
Throughout its
range, it favours open dry
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s such as
semideserts,
deserts
steppes, or
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 ...
plains. Despite its preference for
arid areas, the species seldom occurs in areas where trees are entirely absent.
[Hustler, K., & Howells, W. W. (1989). ''Habitat preference, breeding success and the effect of primary productivity on Tawny Eagles Aquila rapax in the tropics''. Ibis, 131(1), 33-40.] It is a resident breeder which lays one to three
eggs
Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
in a
stick nest most commonly in the crown of a tree.
[Naoroji, R., & Schmitt, N. J. (2007). ''Birds of prey of the Indian subcontinent''. Om Books International.] The tawny eagle is perhaps the most highly opportunistic of all Aquilinae, and often scavenges on
carrion or engages in
kleptoparasitism towards other carnivorous animals but is also a bold and active predator, often of relatively large and diverse prey.
[Brown, Leslie and Amadon, Dean (1986) ''Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World''. The Wellfleet Press. .] It is estimated that tawny eagles can reach the age of 16 years old.
[ Nonetheless, precipitous declines have been detected throughout the tawny eagle's range. Numerous factors, particularly loss of nesting habitat due to logging and ]global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, as well as persecution (largely via poisoning) and other anthropogenic mortality (largely through contact with various manmade objects) are driving the once numerous tawny eagle perhaps to the brink of extinction.
Taxonomy
Dutch naturalist Coenraad Jacob Temminck described the tawny eagle in 1828 from an Indian type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...
. "Tawny eagle" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithologists' Union
The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...
(IOC). ''Aquila'' is Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for “eagle” while ''rapax'' is also Latin for “to grasp”, and relates to the word rapacious, i.e. highly predatory.[Steyn, P. (1983). ''Birds of prey of southern Africa: Their identification and life histories''. Croom Helm, Beckenham (UK). 1983.][Brown, L. (1977). ''Eagles of the World''. Universe Books.] The tawny eagle is a member of the booted eagle subfamily (''Aquilinae'') within the 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 ...
family.[ The booted eagle clan are monophyletic and study of karyotypes has indicated that they likely have few to no close external relations within the overall extant accipitrid family.][ The booted eagle subfamily all have feathers covering their legs and are distributed in every continent that contains accipitrids.][ The genus '' Aquila'' has been traditionally defined as largish, dark-hued and long-winged eagles of open country.][Väli, Ü. (2002). ''Mitochondrial pseudo‐control region in old world eagles (genus Aquila)''. Molecular Ecology, 11(10), 2189–2194.] However, study of genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
have resulted in several reclassifications. These include the moving of smaller, paler and more forest-dwelling eagles in ''Aquila'', the separation of the unique spotted eagles to the genus ''Clanga'' as well as the division of some small eagles to the genus ''Hieraeetus
The genus ''Hieraaetus'', sometimes known as small eagles or hawk-eagles, denotes a group of smallish eagles usually placed in the accipitrid subfamilies Buteoninae or Aquilinae.
They are medium-sized birds of prey inhabiting Europe, Asia, Af ...
'' outside of ''Aquila''. Furthermore, genetic research has further revealed a schism in superficially similar eagles between the tawny eagle and its close relatives and other superficially similar ''Aquila'' such as the golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') species complex
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
. To date, the tawny eagle species group and golden eagle species group are still contained in the same genus despite the apparent lack of close relation.[Lerner, H. R., & Mindell, D. P. (2005). ''Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA''. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 37(2), 327-346.]
The tawny eagle was previously treated as conspecific
Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species.
Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...
with the migratory steppe eagle
The steppe eagle (''Aquila nipalensis'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "booted ...
(''Aquila nipalensis'').[ These eagles were considered part of the same species as recently as 1991. The steppe and tawny eagles were split based on pronounced differences in morphology and anatomy. The steppe eagle is a larger bird, with a much more pronounced ]gape
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 differs by appearance in its blockier frame, bigger wings and evinces different coloring at all stages of development, despite some morphs of the two eagles superficially resembling one another. Furthermore, the respective species differ in ecology (dietary biology, nesting habits) and are strongly allopatric in their breeding ground distribution.[ Two molecular studies, each based on a very small number of genes, indicate that the species are distinct, but disagree over how closely related they are. Genetically, the tawny eagle may cluster more closely with the imperial eagle ]species complex
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
despite the steppe eagle being more sympatric with those northerly Eurasian eagles.[
]
Subspecies
There are three described races of tawny eagles. The subspecific classification of the species has at times been considered complicated by variations and existence of different morphs; in turn they were once considered tentative.[ However, each subspecies is largely allopatric in geography, the primary ambiguities lying in the northern part of east Africa where both African races may intergrade.][Kemp, A.C. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). ''Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax)'', version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.]
*''A. r. rapax''; distributed in Africa from the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
and central Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
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...
to all points southwards.[ However, this race may range up to as far north as ]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 ...
as well (thus likely intergrading considerably with the following subspecies which is widespread in Ethiopia).[Ash, C. P., & Atkins, J. D. (2009). ''Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: an atlas of distribution''. A&C Black.] Adult often of this nominate subspecies are often relatively more strongly rufous in colour than other races and are sometimes dark streaked below. Meanwhile, the juvenile tends to be light rufous. wing chord lengths in this race have been measured at in males and in females.[ The mean wing chord length in two samples of ''A. r. rapax'' measured in males and in females.][Musindo, P. T. (2012). ''Morphological variation in bills and claws in relation to Prey type in Southern African Birds of Prey (Orders Falconiformes and Strigiformes)''.] The tail length of both sexes in ''A. r. rapax'' measures with a tarsus length of . Body mass can range roughly from in overall samples of at least 36 eagles.[
*''A. r. belisarius''; this race resides in ]west Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
to 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 ...
and southwest Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
as well as far south as the northern 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 northern Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
.[Clouet, M., Barrau, C., & Goar, J. L. (2000). ''The diurnal Afro-alpine raptor community of the Ethiopian Balé Highlands''. Ostrich, 71(3-4), 380-384.] This race is described to appear "neater" than the nominate subspecies, possibly due to this race often occurring in even more desert-like conditions than the other races and thus having more compact feathering.[ It is when compared to the nominate, often duller and browner above, showing less of a rufous tinge. Meanwhile, individual pale morph of ''A. r. belisarius'' often a shade or two darker than pale nominate but not consistently so. Although said to be slightly larger, measurement data shows this subspecies to of broadly very similar size to the nominate race. In males, the wing chord is and, in females, the wing chord is .][ The mean wing chord lengths were reportedly in males and , which indicates a slightly less pronounced sexual dimorphism than in the nominate race.][ As for body mass, 1 male was found to weigh while three females weighed from .][
*''A. r. vindhiana''; excluding the Arabian Peninsula, this race likely comprises all the tawny eagles found in Asia, such as in southeastern ]Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and the Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
.[ However, ambiguities exists on where the range of ''A. r. belisarius'' ends and of ''vindhiana'' begins, especially in ]Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
ern areas. Sometimes ''A. r. vindhiana'' is suggested as full species. This subspecies averages darker than either other race and usually is lacking in warmer rufous tone. In general, it is somewhat more similar in hue to the steppe eagle.[ Adult irises are sometimes brown in ''A. r. vindhiana'' (again reminiscent of the steppe eagle). The pale morph of this race is greyer and less rufous than African tawny eagles, although generally juveniles and immature are sometimes more rufous. It may be marginally the smallest subspecies, although in general the tawny eagle evinces remarkably little size variation across its wide range. Wing chord measurements are in males and .][Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D. (1980). ''Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan, together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka''. Oxford University Press.][Baker, E. C. (1928). ''Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma''. Taylor & Francis.] In males, the wing chord reportedly averages about and in females, it averages .[ In males the tail length is and in female it is . The tarsus length of male ''A. r. vindhiana'' is and in females is .][ Unsexed adults in India weighed from .][
]
Description
The tawny eagle is considered to appear "inelegant, scruffy-looking" but has a fairly characteristic aquiline silhouette.[ The species has a fairly long neck and long deep bill with a gape line level with the eye, moderately long wings with fairly pronounced "fingers" and a slightly rounded to almost square-ended and shortish tail, which can be more reminiscent of the tail of a vulture than that of other eagles. The feathering on the legs is extensive and can appear almost baggy-looking.] The bill and head are strong and bold, the body well-proportioned and feet are powerful while the countenance is quite fierce-looking.[ While perching, the tawny eagle tends to sit rather upright, often on stumps, posts, low trees or treetops for long periods of the day or may descend to the ground to walk somewhat unsteadily with a more horizontal posture. The wingtips when perched are roughly even with the tip of the tail.][ Adults have variably colored eyes, ranging from yellow to pale brown to yellow brown, while those of juveniles are dark brown. Both the cere and feet are yellow at all ages.][ The tawny eagle is polymorphic with considerable individual variation in plumage, resulting in occasional disparities in plumages that can engender confusion in some.][ In adulthood, they can vary in coloration from all dark grey-brown to an occasionally streaky (or more plain) foxy-rufous to buffish-yellow.][Shirihai, H. (1994). ''Separation of Tawny Eagle from Steppe Eagle in Israel''. British Birds, 87, 396-397.] Most adults are usually a general grey-brown or rufous-tawny color, with occasional pale spotting visible at close quarters on the nape and belly, coverts uniformly toned as the body.[ The nape is consistently dark and uniform despite the feathers often being tipped paler with other feathers in adults, lacking the contrasting paler feathers often seen in other ''Aquila''.][ Females, in addition to being slightly larger, may tend to be slightly darker and more streaked than the males.][ The most blackish-brown individuals tend to occur in India.][ Adults often show relatively little varying colors apart from their somewhat blacker wing and tail feathers, though when freshly molted great wing coverts and secondaries may show small pale tips which may form pale lines along closed wing has tawny upper parts and blackish flight feathers and tail.][ The head is often similarly tawny in colour as the body but may also sometimes shows darker eyebrows, other thin brown streaks or a darker chin.][ Meanwhile, the tail is plain or obscurely dark barred (with around 7 subtle bands). The dark morph adult is essentially all dark, dull brown. Some dark morph tawny eagles with wear may show irregular streaking or molting browns and more blackish feathers.][ Intermediate morph are dark to ]rufous
Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...
brown above with the mantle and wing coverts variably streaked or molted lighter rufous as is the head with the crown or crown-sides being paler. The intermediate morph's underside is largely rufous (especially farther south in Africa) with breast and flanks very heavily and broadly streaked dark brown, though at times appears all dark brown contrasting with plain trousers and crissum.[ Pale morph adult tawny eagles always show a clear contrast between the pale body and wing coverts which bear darker flight feathers and tail. In pale morphs, the underparts are rufous buff to lighty tawny-brown, phasing into somewhat darker lesser and median wing coverts to darker brown to even blackish greater coverts and flight feathers. The head may too be tawny in pale morph tawny eagles but sometimes with thin brown streaks or darker chin. Below pale morph adults are all light rufous to tawny buff or brown, sometimes paler below the belly area. In worn individuals the bodily feathers of pale morph tawny eagles can appear almost whitish.][ Dark morph juvenile tawny eagles are generally light rufous to rufous brown with creamier lower back to upper tail coverts. Juveniles show thinly pale-tipped dark brown greater coverts and remiges while the tail is barred grey and brown usually with a narrow creamy tip. Dark morph juveniles may fade to pale buff or creamy often before molting into browner plumage. Subsequent stages are not as well-known but it appears dark morph subadults gradually manifest a darker brown or rufous brown color on the mantle, as well as on the head and upper breast while maintaining a buffish rear body (i.e. lower back and rump patch). Generally other morphs are similar but not as well-known and are perhaps individually inconsistent. Many are rufous or sandy after a molt but have mottling later on, the extent of pale feathers indicative perhaps of their ultimate adult morph.][
In flight, the tawny eagle appears as a large raptor with a noticeably protruding head on a long neck, with a deep chest, long and broad wings with a somewhat narrower seven-fingered hand.][ The trailing edge of the wing is slightly curved outwards, indenting at the junction of primaries and secondaries, whilst the rounded, medium-length tail is usually held spread.][ The deep beats of the kinked wings can make their flight appear rather heavy and slow but they are quicker and more expansive in wing movements and often less forceful-looking than larger ''Aquila'' like steppe eagles and can be very agile when chasing other raptors to rob them.][ Tawny eagles soar with flat wings or very slightly raised and hands only slightly lower, and may fly similarly in a glide but may too arch when in a fast glide.][ Adult dark morphs are more or less uniform dark brown above and below, showing indistinctly and slightly paler and greyish primaries on both sides. Above, the main contrast on dark morphs above is paler creamy rump patch while, on the underside, the greyish color is contrasted with blackish tips and a diffused trailing edge along both the wings and tail. Intermediate morph tawny eagles are variably rufous streaked on brown to rufous brown on the back and wing coverts with a similar contrasting pale rump above as dark morphs. Below the intermediate's heavy dark streaks are only subtly different and their coloring can appear almost uniform. The wing quills of intermediate morphs are often greyer with a stronger contrast of the paler inner primaries and blackish wing ends. Pale morph are all pale tawny or buffish on both sides of the wing, which contrasting strongly with demarcated dark brown about the greater coverts, flight feathers and tail and usually the scapulars. The primaries are quite pale on pale morphs with sometimes the hint of a pale carpal comma. Some pale adults have pale bases to all the underprimaries and the quills are sometimes unbarred, but more usually the feathers have dense but narrow dark bars.][ Dark morph juveniles are light rufous to pale tawny body above which contrasts strongly with dark brown greater coverts, rear scapulars, flight feathers and tail, in turn all highlighting the creamy lower back to tail coverts. Below dark morph juveniles can look similar to pale morph adults apart from trailing whitish edges and often irregular pale diagonals along tips of greater wing coverts, though usually these fade early on. Little is known plumage development but the young eagles ]moult
In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...
into brown, becoming patchy with intermediate often showing 1-3 darker bars on wing linings.[ The underparts of subadults (i.e. around 2 to 3 years or old) are typically two-toned, with darker brown about the breasts, belly and underwings coverts while the remainder of the underbody is creamy light in colour. This two-toned pattern is evinced in subadult tawny eagles both from India and Africa.][ Adult plumage is obtained between the 4th and 5th years of life.][
]
Size
This is a large bird of prey, though is medium-sized for an eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
and it is one of the smaller species in the genus '' Aquila''. Among currently accepted species in the genus, it is of quite similar size to Bonelli's eagles (''Aquila fasciata'') (though is notably longer winged), slightly larger than African hawk-eagle
The African hawk-eagle (''Aquila spilogaster'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. This species’ feathered legs mark it as a member of the Aquilinae subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamauf ...
s (''Aquila spilogaster'') and much larger than Cassin's hawk-eagles (''Aquila africanus''). Otherwise, females of the larger species of ''Aquila'' are frequently around twice as heavy as an average tawny eagle.[''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), .] As is typical in birds of prey, the female tawny eagle is larger than the male, though relatively modestly so and a difference between the sexes is typically up to 15%.[ In total length, tawny eagles can measure from .][ A typical length for a tawny eagle is considered about . Wingspans can measure from . Weight can range in fully grown birds from .] Average weights were reported in one study as in 5 males and in 5 females.[ In another study, 10 unsexed adult tawny eagles were found to have weighed on average while, for the same data pool, a sample of 15 had an average wingspan of .][Mendelsohn, J. M., Kemp, A. C., Biggs, H. C., Biggs, R., & Brown, C. J. (1989). ''Wing areas, wing loadings and wing spans of 66 species of African raptors''. Ostrich, 60(1), 35-42.] Another small sample of African males, sample size four, averaged while three females averaged .[ The mean mass of the species in one estimate was .][Anderson, D. J., & Horwitz, R. J. (1979). ''Competitive interactions among vultures and their avian competitors''. Ibis, 121(4), 505-509.] In all standard measurements combined, the wing chord can vary from , the tail from and the tarsus from .[Hockey, P.A.R., Dean, W.R.J. & Ryan, P.G. (2005). Roberts – Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.] The culmen length of Kenyan tawny eagles was measured at , averaging , while the gape width is on average, ranging from .[Smeenk, C. (1974). ''Comparative-ecological studies of some East African birds of prey''. Ardea 62 (1-2) : 1-97.] The hallux-claw, the enlarged rear talon often used as a killing instrument on accipitrids, can measure from , averaging in one sample and in another. The talon size is not especially large for a booted eagle and is proportionately similar in size to those of steppe eagles and eastern imperial eagle
The eastern imperial eagle (''Aquila heliaca'') is a large bird of prey that breeds in southeastern Europe and extensively through West and Central Asia. Most populations are migratory and winter in northeastern Africa, the Middle East and South ...
s (''Aquila heliaca'').[
]
Confusion species
The tawny eagle lives in multiple areas where other broadly similar brownish hued and largish raptors often occur. Thus identification is seldom straightforward.[Kemp, A., & Kemp, M. (2006). ''Sasol Birds of Prey; New Edition''. Struik.][Forsman, D. (1999). ''The raptors of Europe and the Middle East: a handbook of field identification''. London: T & AD Poyser.]
One source that can especially engender potential confusion in its wintering range is the formerly conspecific steppe eagle
The steppe eagle (''Aquila nipalensis'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "booted ...
. The steppe is larger with a shorter neck, relatively longer and narrower wings, a more massive beak, particularly via the exceptional depth of the gape (although in flight can appear smaller headed due its less protruding neck) and has a longer and rounder tail. Furthermore, steppe eagles tends to have much bolder and widely spaced barring on the wings than tawny eagles and more distinct dark trailing wing edges and paler throats.
Beyond steppe eagles, comparisons to various other groups of sympatric booted eagles may be made. Compared to the spotted eagles, the tawny eagle's tail is longer, the bill more prominent, the wings usually less squared-off in flight, the neck longer and the overall look rangier, despite these species being of often similar size. In contrast to the imperial eagles, the wings of the tawny eagle are broader and have less even trailing edges, the bill is slightly less prominent, and the wings are more likely to be held slightly upwards, while the body size is smaller. When compared to the golden eagle species complex, of which only the golden and the Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') are usually relevant (although three dissimilar and sympatric pale-bellied eagles, of a size with tawny eagles or smaller, are found as part of this evolutionary chain), the tawny eagle is considerably smaller, its wings do not taper as much nor are they as likely to be held in a strong dihedral, and proportionately, the bill is notably longer and the tail is rather shorter. Greater spotted eagle
The greater spotted eagle (''Clanga clanga''), occasionally called the spotted eagle, is a large bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Its feathered legs indicate it is a member of the subfamily Aquil ...
s (''Clanga clanga''), like the steppe eagle a Palearctic breeding eagle who often winters in the resident range of tawny eagles, is fairly similar, but that species has a relatively shorter and broader tail, less baggy feathers on the legs and usually a rather darker and more uniform adult plumage. The ''fulvescens'' form of the greater spotted eagle must be distinguished from the pale forms of the tawny eagle by its underwing pattern, often with completely blackish underwing coverts and usually plain looking dark remiges over the entire primaries with more distinct pale carpal arcs.[Davidson, I. (1978). ''Flight identification of southern African raptors''. Bokmakierie, 30: 43-48.] The likewise migratory lesser spotted eagle
The lesser spotted eagle (''Clanga pomarina'') is a large Eastern European bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The typical eagles are often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavy-set Acc ...
(''Clanga pomarina'') is smaller than the tawny eagle and more compact with a distinct white U above the tail. The residential African Wahlberg's eagle
Wahlberg's eagle (''Hieraaetus wahlbergi'') is a bird of prey that is native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is a seasonal migrant in the woodlands and savannas.
It is named after the Swedish naturalist Johan August Wahlberg. Like all eagles, it ...
(''Hieraeetus wahlbergi'') can have a similar uniform plumage as in tawny eagles but always has greyer flight feathers and is much smaller than tawny eagles with relatively longer and more rectangular wings and a longer, narrower and straighter-tipped tail. The eastern imperial eagle
The eastern imperial eagle (''Aquila heliaca'') is a large bird of prey that breeds in southeastern Europe and extensively through West and Central Asia. Most populations are migratory and winter in northeastern Africa, the Middle East and South ...
in juvenile plumage can appear similar to the pale and intermediate morph tawny eagles, but the imperial eagle is usually visibly larger, with slenderer, longer wings, a longer, broader tail as well as having dark brown streaking on the chest, mantle and wing coverts and bearing more distinct pale trailing edges and wing bars.
Dark-morph tawny eagles in India may be distinguished from similarly sized 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 ...
s (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') by the latter being slenderer and having longer, darker and more paddle-shaped wings with a narrower base and a much longer, narrower and distinctly barred tail. More dissimilar eagles such as Circaetinae
Circaetinae is a bird of prey subfamily which consists of a group of medium to large broad-winged species. These are mainly birds which specialise in feeding on snakes and other reptiles, which is the reason most are referred to as "snake-eagle ...
, i.e. brown snake eagles (''Circaetus cinereus''), black-breasted snake eagles (''Circaetus pectoralis'') and juvenile bateleur
The bateleur (; ''Terathopius ecaudatus'') is a medium-sized eagle in the family Accipitridae. It is often considered a relative of the snake eagles and, like them, it is classified within the subfamily Circaetinae.Kemp, A. C., G. M. Kirwan, ...
s (''Terathopius ecaudatus''), are sometimes mentioned as a potential source of confusion but are usually rather distinct (all larger headed, rather smaller billed, shorter tailed and bare legged with often less uniform coloring) even in their most similar hues.
Calls
Tawny eagles are generally silent in most of their range.[ However, unlike steppe eagles, which are almost always silent away from their breeding grounds, they are said to occasionally vocalize in any season.][ They are also more vocal when not breeding than the spotted eagles.][ The usual call is a harsh, hollow-sounding, loud bark, variously transcribed as ''kowk-kowk'', ''kau-kau'', ''kiok-kiok'' or ''ki-ark''. The call is fairly high-pitched (slightly less deep than the steppe eagle's when the latter is breeding) but is still deeper voiced than spotted eagles.][ In Kruger National Park it is said the call is loud and far-travelling.][ Male tawny eagles are the most frequent vocalizers in the species, particularly during sky-dances, but also in other contexts. These include but are not limited to food arguments, disturbances during nesting and males attracting females for food passes.][ In nine years of monitoring tawny eagles 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 ...
, however, the call was not heard once.[ Its silence there may be due to the flat landscape.][ Other call recorded include a harsh grating ''k eke ke''... in aerial courtship displays and a throaty ''kra'' in kleptoparastic pursuits. A ''kra-kra'' call may emitted at times to warn intruders.][ The female may also emit an occasional mewing, high ''shreep-shreep'' at the nest as well as a rare raucous scream (possible food-begging and alarm calls, respectively).][Davison, B. (1998). ''Raptor communities in hill habitats in south-eastern Zimbabwe'' (Doctoral dissertation, Rhodes University).] The young chick tawny eagle chips initially but once its feathers emerge, it tends to beg with a loud call, i.e. ''we-yik, wee-yik''.[
]
Distribution and habitat
Tawny eagles have an extremely extensive natural distribution. The African population can be found in three, fairly discrete populations.[ One of these is found in ]North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
in south-central Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
, possibly northern Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, southwestern Mauritania, Senegambia, southern Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
, central and southern Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Chad, northern and central Sudan to most of ](_blank)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 ...
and Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
(but for the northeast and central-east).[Smith, K. D. (1957). ''An annotated check list of the birds of Eritrea''. Ibis, 99(2), 307-337.] The north African population is scarce. In Morocco, they are heavily depleted with a few populations left in some regions such as Tarfaya, Tan-Tan
Tan-Tan ( ar, طانطان, ber, ⵟⴰⵏⵟⴰⵏ) is a city in Tan-Tan Province in the region of Guelmim-Oued Noun in southwestern Morocco. It is a desert town with a population (2014 census) of 73,209. It is the largest city in the provinc ...
and Souss-Massa
Souss-Massa ( ar, سوس ماسة, sūs māssa; ber, ⵙⵓⵙ ⵎⴰⵙⵙⴰ, sus massa) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 51,642 km² and had a population of 2,676,847 as of the 2014 Moroccan census. The cap ...
.[Thévenot, M., Vernon, R., & Bergier, P. (2003). ''The birds of Morocco: an annotated checklist'' (No. 20). British Ornithologists' Union.] They are likely extirpated
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
from Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, where they were once frequent. In West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
, some tawny eagles occur in Gambia, Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
, Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and (though possibly not breeding) in Ivory Coast and Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
.[Thiollay, J. M. (1985). ''The birds of Ivory Coast: status and distribution''. West African Ornithological Society.][Dowsett, R. J., Dowsett-Lemaire, F., & Hester, A. (2008). ''The avifauna of Ghana: additions and corrections''. Bull. Afr. Bird Club, 15, 191-200.][Cheke, R. A., & Walsh, J. F. (1996). ''The birds of Togo: an annotated check-list (No. 14)''. British Ornithologists' Union.] In east Africa and central Africa
Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...
, the tawny eagle is found in central and eastern 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 throughout the drier portions of Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
and in the entire nations of Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
, 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 ...
, Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
(quite often residing in the Luangwa valley and the Chambeshi drainage), Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...
and Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
. In east Africa, it is considered perhaps the most widely distributed and regularly sighted brown eagle.[Dowsett, R. J., Aspinwall, D. R., & Dowsett-Lemaire, F. (2008). ''The birds of Zambia: an atlas and handbook''. Tauraco Press.] 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 o ...
, the tawny eagle is found throughout 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 ...
(now often rare apart from Matabeleland
Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...
and Chipinga Uplands), Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
(still regular in Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...
) and some areas of 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 ...
, southern and western Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
( Cuando Cubango, Cunene, Huíla Namibe, to Malanje), Eswatini, Lesotho and northern and central parts of South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, i.e. mainly north of the Orange River but sometimes down to the Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...
.[Irwin, M. P. S. (1981). ''The birds of Zimbabwe''. Quest Pub..][Penry, H. (1994). ''Bird atlas of Botswana''. University of Kwazulu Natal Press.][Barnes, K. N. (Ed.). (2000). ''The Eskom red data book of birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland''. BirdLife South Africa.] The tawny eagle may be extinct as a breeder in Eswatini where it was last confirmed to have bred in 2001.
Out of Africa, the species may possibly be found in the southwestern part of the Arabian peninsula, i.e. in Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
and extreme southwestern Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
in the Tihamah and 'Asir Region
The ʿAsir Region ( ar, عَسِيرٌ, ʿAsīr, lit=difficult) is a region of Saudi Arabia located in the southwest of the country that is named after the ʿAsīr tribe. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,211,875 (2017). It is ...
s, but few to none confirmed breeding events have been reported in the last few decades. The tawny eagle is considered a rare vagrant in Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, though some are verified, other reports of them often turn out to be misidentified steppe eagles. They are also known as a rare vagrant in Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
. In Asia, the tawny eagle exists in isolation in southeastern Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
(as in Arabia, verified recent breeding is not known) and somewhat more continuously in eastern Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
(often in the Indus valley), much of north
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
and 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 ...
, eastward scarcely through southern Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
and Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
.[Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C. (2005). ''Birds of south Asia: the Ripley guide''. Washington, DC.] Though Nepali tawny eagles are rarely recorded, it is thought that the species still resides there in lowland semi-deserts. The Indian range is from Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
through the Indo-Gangetic Plain and western Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, northeastern Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
, the Deccan Plateau with range continuing down to Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
, Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
and (mainly north-central) Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
.[ Records of vagrating tawny eagles turning up in ]Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, northern Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
and Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
are thought to have been likely misidentified steppe eagles or are based on now unidentifiable specimens.[Duckworth, J. W., Inskipp, T. P., Pasquet, E., Rasmussen, P. C., Rice, N. H., Robson, C. R., & Russell, D. G. D. (2008). ''A re-evaluation of the status of Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax in South-East Asia''.] A small handful of vagrants have been verified to turn up in Sri Lanka (the only known appearance by an ''Aquila'' eagle there). Old reports of vagrancy, probably in need of confirmation, are known also from Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.[
]
Habitat
Tawny eagles occurs in fairly open country at varied elevations but usually live in drier areas. In West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
, the species breeds often in relatively moist forest-savanna mosaics but can move into dry woodlands and semi-deserts when not breeding.[ In ]Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
, the species prefers forested areas near mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
s with adjacent plain
In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...
s. Elsewhere in Africa, tawny eagles typically inhabit wooded savanna such as dry ''Acacia'' savanna and semi-desert to desert areas. However, extreme desert areas, completely lacking in arborescent growth, are avoided nearly as much so as humid tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...
s. It also occurs at times in manmade areas such as arable lands, roadsides, dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s, farmland, cattle pastures and game areas if feeding opportunities occur in them.[ 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 o ...
, thornveld is often the preferred habitat with the tawny eagles mostly preferring stands of '' Acacia''. Despite similar climates, within the miombo woodland, the tawny eagle tends to be more scarce.[ In India, similar habitats may largely be used but the tawny eagle may fairly often occur too in the vicinity of ]village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
s and cultivations and frequents garbage dumps and slaughterhouses somewhat more so than they do in Africa.[ In addition to all gradients of arid zones, in India, the tawny eagle frequently is found around ]thorn forest
A thorn forest is a dense scrubland with vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and warm temperate areas with a seasonal rainfall averaging .
Regions Africa
Is present in the southwest of Africa with smaller areas in other places of Africa.
...
s.[ Tawny eagles may live from sea level to about but tends to prefer somewhat lower elevations.][ Despite a certain level of aridity expected in tawny eagle habitats, they normally will not nest unless a habitat meets certain demands.][ The tawny eagle's presence is predicated on the availability of ephemeral ]rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...
fall during the 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 ...
.[Hustler, K., & Howells, W. W. (1990). ''The influence of primary production on a raptor community in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe''. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 6(3), 343-354.] This reliance on some rainfall is probably key to habitat quality and resulting prey populations to some extent, but also to the availability of nesting sites.[ The tawny eagle is by and large an obligate tree nester and so areas that become too arid to support tree growth or where trees are overharvested are unlikely to retain the species.][
]
Behaviour
The tawny eagle, quite unlike the steppe eagle, is largely sedentary and non-migratory. However, in Africa it is at times considered to be fairly nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic and can engage in some seasonal movements.[Thiollay, J. M. (1992). ''Patterns and ecology of seasonal migrations of Ethiopian raptors in West Africa''. In 7th Pan-African Ornithological Congress, Nairobi (Vol. 28).] In west Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
, ''A. r. belisarius'' rather regularly travels shorter distance to damp woodlands during October through November, returning north in April, and perhaps at least at times, migrates into Kalahari region
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa.
It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal de ...
of Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
and may vagrate to southern South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.[ Sometimes, tawny eagles seem to ping semi-regularly between Ethiopia and west Africa.][ Some long distance wandering has even been reported, such as a vagrant ''A. r. belisarius'' in ]Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
and as far as Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
(where twice recorded in the 1950s) and even Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
(3 winter records in the 1990s) and Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
.[ From the Indian range, individuals vagrate not infrequently to nearby ]Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, most likely as juveniles post-dispersal wanderings, but reports of the species wandering into 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 south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
such as Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
are now considered likely apocryphal.[ Generally, in areas such as ]southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
, tawny eagles usually seldom seem to leave their established breeding territories and juvenile eagles generally wander no more than several dozen kilometres from their original nest.[ A bird banded as a nestling in ]Esigodini
Esigodini, previously known as Essexvale, is a town in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe. It is the administrative centre for Umzingwane District, one of the seven administrative districts in Matabeleland South. It was originally an ...
was recovered quite nearby at Fort Rixon more than two years later.[ However, in a rather far dispersal for southern Africa, one eagle banded as a nestling was recovered away from its nest of origin in Zimbabwe four years later.][ Inconsistent and seemingly unpredictable movements by tawny eagles have been proven via experimental ecological studies to be actually be instances of eagles searching out new areas to compensate for lack of rainfall.][Wichmann, M. C., Groeneveld, J., Jeltsch, F., & Grimm, V. (2005). ''Mitigation of climate change impacts on raptors by behavioural adaptation: ecological buffering mechanisms''. Global and Planetary Change, 47(2-4), 273-281.] While non-breeding steppe eagles are often slightly social and flock at opportunistic feeding sources, the tawny eagle is usually considered solitary.[ However, groups of two to three tawny eagles are sometimes seen, such as in the Indian subcontinent, but occasionally group sizes may even exceed this figure.][ In the Mirpur Division of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan, small flocks of tawny eagles have reportedly been witnessed gathering in warmer spots between November and February, over three years of study. Small groups or aggregations are known to occur in Africa as well near concentrated foods and even communal roost have been reported in trees, power pylons or on the ground.][ Like many large raptors, the tawny eagle probably spends the majority of its day perched but take wing a few times a day.][ Unlike most large eagles, in India at least, tawny eagles are often fairly accustomed to humans and may allow fairly close approach by observers.][
]
Feeding
The tawny eagle is unique as an ''Aquila'' eagle in the lack of apparent specialization in its feeding behaviour.[ While most other ''Aquila'' will opportunistically scavenge, the tawny eagle freely takes to ]scavenging
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding ...
on carrion, perhaps doing so at all times of the year, though do so somewhat more so when not breeding.[ Routine scavenging often drives tawny eagles to refuse dumps in or near ]village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
s and slaughterhouses, particularly in India, and to associate quite often with vultures at carrion sites. They are also frequently recorded on roadsides where roadkill provides a steady food source.[ More routinely than almost any other raptor, perhaps, it is a very skilled pirate, regularly engaging in kleptoparasitism of other ]birds of prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...
.[ However, descriptions of the tawny eagle as "sluggish", "not very distinguished" and "unimpressive" are not particularly apt as the tawny eagle is a highly rapacious predator that attacks very variable ranges of live prey including particularly large prey.][ This species hunts mainly by a short dive or pounce from a perch or by stoop from up high in a soaring flight.][ In the Indian subcontinent, preferred hunting perch trees were '']Vachellia nilotica
''Vachellia nilotica'', more commonly known as ''Acacia nilotica'', and by the vernacular names of gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa, the Mid ...
'', ''Prosopis cineraria
''Prosopis cineraria'', also known as ghaf, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is native to arid portions of Western Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, India, Oman, Pakistan, Sau ...
'' and '' Capparis decidua''.[ It may also often forage by walking on the ground. Mostly, tawny eagles target live prey that is on the ground, seldom targeting ]arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...
prey.[ However, they will sometimes fly down and take birds on the wing.][ Avian prey known to be killed in the air has ranged from ]speckled pigeon
The speckled pigeon (''Columba guinea''), or (African) rock pigeon, is a pigeon that is a resident breeding bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara. It is a common and widespread species in open habitats over much of its range, although there ...
s (''Columba guinea'') to flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...
es.[ Tawny eagles may hunt frequently in pairs during the breeding season, often securing larger prey than in the non-breeding season.][ Sometimes this tandem hunting by pairs can occur in any season.][ It is likely that tandem hunting by pairs involves one bird engaging in conspicuous flight to distract the quarry while another flies inconspicuously to sneak up on and kill the prey, as has been reported in other tandem hunting raptors.][ ]Nocturnal animals
''Nocturnal Animals'' is a 2016 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written, produced, and directed by Tom Ford in his second feature, based on the 1993 novel '' Tony and Susan'' by Austin Wright. The film stars Amy Adams, Jake Gylle ...
such as genets and springhare
''Pedetes'' is a genus of rodent, the springhares, in the family Pedetidae. Members of the genus are distributed across southern and Eastern Africa.
Species
A number of species both extant and extinct are classified in the genus ''Pedetes''. ...
s have been preyed upon by tawny eagles in areas where there was no possibility they were killed by traffic at night. In addition to other observations have been made where tawny eagles drink and bathe at night, some nocturnal subsistence behaviour by this species has been inferred but no irrefutable evidence has been brought forth either.[ Semi-regular attendance at grassfires in India, presumably in order to capture displaced creatures, has been reported.][ More than 200 species, including both live prey and carrion, are known to be eaten by tawny eagles and they may have one of the most variable diet of all tropical eagles.][Vernon, C. J. (1979). ''Prey remains from seven Tawny Eagle nests''. Honeyguide, 100: 22-24.] Reportedly, most prey the tawny eagle will take alive will weigh not less than and not more than , however live prey has been revealed to be regularly more variable than even that estimate represents.[ One compilation study showed that, compared to 8 other ''Aquila'' and spotted eagles, the tawny eagle's diet was the most evenly spread across all weight classes of prey from under to over , though took prey in the latter prey class slightly less so than the much larger golden and wedge-tailed eagles (''Aquila audax''). This study further determine that the most often focused on weight class in tawny eagle's diets were and prey class, accounting for a little less than half of the prey by quantity.][ According to this authority, the mean prey size falls around approximately , which is around 5 times greater than the mean estimated prey size for the steppe eagle species, around 38% greater than mean estimated prey size of imperial eagles and considerably less only than the golden, wedge-tailed and Verreaux's eagles among the 8 studied ''Aquila'' and '' Clanga'' species.][
]
Probable live prey
Determining whether prey has been taken alive at the nests of tawny eagles is generally considered to be difficult, although observations suggest that during breeding tawny eagles usually deliver fresh prey while raising young, indicating that such prey are usually either taken alive or newly pirated from other predators.[ Within a Kenyan study, only 1.9% of prey brought to tawny eagle nests was thought likely to be from carrion.][ While hunting prey, it often takes a variety of prey usually focusing somewhat on small to medium-sized mammals, usually medium-sized to 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 lightweig ...
s and occasionally medium to large-sized reptiles.[ A diet analysis 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 ...
indicated that among 160 prey items, 36.9% were mammals, 51.9% were birds, 10% were reptiles and 1.2% were amphibians.[ The leading prey species here were scrub hare (''Lepus saxatilis''), at about 15.6% of the total, helmeted guineafowl (''Numida meleagris''), at about 11.9% of the prey total, both ]chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
s and unidentified snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
s at around 6.9% and indeterminate spurfowl and dove
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
s at 6.2% and 5%, respectively. Birds made up 51.9% of the diet, mammals 36.9%, reptiles 10% and amphibians 1.1%.[ A similar dietary study conducted in ]Lochinvar National Park
__NOTOC__
The Lochinvar National Park lies south west of Lusaka in Zambia, on the south side of the Kafue River.The habitats the national park protects are a large portion of the southern Kafue Flats floodplain, including the Chunga Lagoon, and dri ...
, Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
found a higher proportion of birds and amphibians (61.4% & 5.5% respectively), with a surprisingly number of water bird
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...
s being taken. Of 127 prey items here, the main prey species were determined to be helmeted guineafowl at about 15% of the diet, Swainson's spurfowl (''Pternistis swainsonii'') at 11%, poultry
Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, ...
at about 8.7%, the African openbill (''Anastomus lamelligerus'') at 7.9% with the top mammals in the diet being scrub hares, at 5.5%, and African marsh rat
The African marsh rat or common dasymys (''Dasymys incomtus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, a ...
s (''Dasymys incomtus'') at 3.9%; furthermore indeterminate snakes comprised 5.5% of the diet.[ The variation in diet between the preceding two study sites is due to differences in habitat and prey availability.][ A very detailed study was conducted 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- ...
, Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
, of the diet of the local tawny eagles over different years. Of 543 total prey items, 41.2% were mammals, 35.4% were birds, and 23.4% were reptiles and amphibians. Of these the most important prey was Kirk's dik-dik (''Madoqua kirkii'') at 21.7% of the total, yellow-necked spurfowl
The yellow-necked spurfowl or yellow-necked francolin (''Pternistis leucoscepus'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. This species is named for ...
(''Pternistis leucoscepus'') at 6.8% of the total, cape hare
The Cape hare (''Lepus capensis''), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India.
Taxonomy
The Cape hare was one of the many mammal species originally described by Carl Linnaeus ...
(''Lepus capensis'') and crested francolin
The crested francolin (''Ortygornis sephaena'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae.
It is found in southern Africa. One of its subspecies, ''Ortygornis sephaena rovuma'', is sometimes considered a separate species, Kirk's francolin.
...
(''Dendroperdix sephaena'') both at 6.3% and red-crested korhaan
The red-crested korhaan or red-crested bustard (''Lophotis ruficrista'') is a species of bird in the family Otididae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Description
The red-creste ...
(''Lophotis ruficrista'') at 5.9%; additionally, unidentified snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
s constituted 21.3% of the foods.[ The dik-dik is a small antelope and is much larger than a tawny eagle. The tawny eagle certainly took dik-diks weighing up to and possibly even , with this eagle taking about 80 dik-diks in Tsavo East each year.][ In different areas of ]South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, small dietary studies determined the diet at nests to be highly variable. In the Highveld, about 52% of 60 prey items were mammals, 45% were birds and a small amount were fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
. In Timbavati and Klaserie, 63% of the diet was birds, 34% of it was mammals and 3% were reptiles. At Highveld, 25% of the diet consisted of 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''), 15% Cape ground squirrel
The Cape ground squirrel or South African ground squirrel (''Geosciurus inauris'') is found in most of the drier parts of southern Africa from South Africa, through to Botswana, and into Namibia, including Etosha National Park.
The name ' ...
s (''Xerus inauris'') and 13% helmeted guineafowl. At Timbavati and Klaserie, various 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 were strongly predominant in foods, at about 44% with another 17% by various mongoose
A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...
s.[Tarboton, W.R. & Allan, D.G. (1984). ''The status and conservation of birds of prey in the Transvaal''. Transvaal Museum Monograph No. 3. Pretoria.]
Out of the southern and eastern areas of Africa, less quantitative analysis has been undertaken into the feeding habits of tawny eagles, even around nests. What is known of their prey elsewhere is mainly from wide-ranging surveys, secondary accounts and photographs.[ It appears 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 ...
that the tawny eagle may have a close predatory relationship with the Abyssinian grass rat (''Arvicanthis abyssinicus'') while one tawny eagle there tore open the nest of the Stresemann's bushcrow
Stresemann's bushcrow (''Zavattariornis stresemanni''), also known as the Abyssinian pie, bush crow, Ethiopian bushcrow, or by its generic name ''Zavattariornis'', is a rather starling-like bird, which is currently thought to be member of the cr ...
(''Zavattariornis stresemanni'') to access the prey. Unidentified large rats constituted a great majority of prey delivered during the nestling growth stage at some east African nests.[ Fewer details are known about the prey of tawny eagles in the Indian subcontinent.][ One study, without quantitative data known, listed the prey of tawny eagles in Saurashtra as Indian palm squirrels (''Funambulus palmarum''), eggs of ]red-wattled lapwing
The red-wattled lapwing (''Vanellus indicus'') is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicat ...
s (''Vanellus indicus''), crow
A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...
s, mongoose
A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...
s, Indian hare
The Indian hare (''Lepus nigricollis''), also known as the black-naped hare, is a common species of hare native to the Indian subcontinent, and Java.
Introductions
It has been introduced to Madagascar, Comoro Islands, Andaman Islands, Irian Jay ...
s (''Lepus nigricollis'') and even Bengal fox
The Bengal fox (''Vulpes bengalensis''), also known as the Indian fox, is a fox endemic to the Indian subcontinent from the Himalayan foothills and Terai of Nepal through southern India, and from southern and eastern Pakistan to eastern India an ...
(''Vulpes bengalensis'').[Dharmakuarsinhji, K.S. (1955). ''Birds of Saurashtra''. Dil Bahar.] Otherwise, the prey incidentally reported in India is extremely varied, including even the hindlegs of a jungle cat
The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat, swamp cat and jungle lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East, the Caucasus, South and Southeast Asia and southern China. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, littoral ...
(''Felis chaus'') (but this may have been scavenged).[ In general, tawny eagles in ]south Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
may focus on less varying prey in general, often reportedly favoring desert-dwelling rodents and hares.[Fitzwater, W. D., & Prakash, I. (1969). ''Observations on the burrows, behavior and home range of the Indian desert gerbil, Meriones hurrianae Jerdon''. Mammalia, 33(4), 598-606][Prakash, I., & Ghosh, P. K. (Eds.). (2012). ''Rodents in desert environments (Vol. 28)''. Springer Science & Business Media.] Tawny eagles may hunt a couple dozen species of rodent from different parts of the range, ranging in size from the Natal multimammate mouse (''Mastomys natalensis'') to the South African springhare
The South African springhare (''Pedetes capensis'') ( af, springhaas) is a medium-sized terrestrial and burrowing rodent. Despite the name, it is not a hare. It is one of two extant species in the genus '' Pedetes'', and is native to southern Afr ...
(''Pedestes capensis'').[ Rock hyrax (''Procavia capensis'') and yellow-spotted rock hyrax (''Heterohyrax brucei'') are occasionally preyed upon by tawny eagles.][Kingdon, J., Happold, D., Butynski, T., Hoffmann, M., Happold, M., & Kalina, J. (2013). ''Mammals of Africa''. A&C Black.] The tawny eagle may be one of the most accomplished predators of mongoose, many food studies reflecting relatively high numbers of them and they appear to be one of the most feared predators at meerkat (''Suricata suricatta'') colonies.[ In the Karoo, the local tawny eagles reportedly live mostly off of mongooses, either meerkats or yellow mongooses.][Tarboton, W. R., Pickford, P., & Pickford, B. (1990). ''African birds of prey''. Cornell University Press.] Similarly small or slightly larger carnivores
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other so ...
like striped polecats (''Ictonyx striatus'') and genets are not infrequently prey for tawny eagles as well.[ Bat-eared foxes (''Otocyon megalotis'') may too be taken alive at times. Various monkeys may be eaten, although not infrequently as carrion, tawny eagles may too in seldom cases attack juveniles of monkeys such as ]Patas monkey
The common patas monkey (''Erythrocebus patas''), also known as the wadi monkey or hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa.
Taxonomy
There is some confusion surrounding ...
s (''Erythrocebus patas''), grivets (''Chlorocebus aethiops'') and vervet monkey
The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus ''Chlorocebus''. The five distinct ...
s (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus'') up to the size of juveniles of several species 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 ...
.[ However, unlike with larger eagles, the troops of certain baboons do not seem to regard tawny eagles as a threat based on their behavioural responses. While most ungulate prey other than dik-diks is probably largely scavenged as carrion or stolen from other predators, the small calves of ungulates such as ]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 gazell ...
(''Eudorcas thomsonii'') are sometimes apparently killed by tawny eagles. A general picture appears to emerge that tawny eagles quite often takes relatively large mammalian prey, surprisingly often creatures weighing up to such as hares, dik-diks, the young of other antelopes, hyraxes and so on.[
While mammals prey varies from rodents to hares, mongooses and small antelopes, the diversity and size range of bird taken may be even more impressive and more than 120 avian prey species have been reported in the prey spectrum.][ Included in the prey spectrum are various species of ]duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
s and small or gosling geese
A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...
,[ gamebirds, especially ]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 and guineafowl,[ many ]dove
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
s and 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,[ mostly medium-sized species of bustard and hornbill][ and numerous ]water bird
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...
s from small coursers, lapwing
Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A gro ...
s, rails
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
and grebes to large flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...
es, storks and herons both small and large.[ Both young and adult Old World flamingoes of both African species are known to be attacked on occasion, as well as white-breasted cormorants (''Phalacrocorax lucidus'') and great cormorants (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), all birds similar in size or somewhat heavier than the tawny eagle itself. Further impressive water bird prey includes reportedly ]spur-winged goose
The spur-winged goose (''Plectropterus gambensis'') is a large bird in the family Anatidae, related to the geese and the shelducks, but distinct from both of these in a number of anatomical features, and therefore treated in its own subfamily, th ...
(''Plectropterus gambensis''), which weighs about twice as much as tawny eagle.[ Even larger avian prey are taken including a ]common crane
The common crane (''Grus grus''), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') and the Siberian ...
(''Grus grus'') killed by a pair in Saurashtra (although it was an injured one) and presumably adult female Kori bustard
The kori bustard (''Ardeotis kori'') is the largest flying bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family, which all belong to the order Otidiformes and are restricted in distribution to the Old World. It is one of the four species ( ...
(''Ardeotis kori''). If average-sized, these prey items likely weighed more than .[ More minor avian prey includes ]nightjar
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk tal ...
s, coucals, sandgrouse, swifts, bee-eaters, kingfishers
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...
, rollers, wood hoopoes, turacos, parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...
s and several passerines.[ One small passerine the tawny eagle may routinely hunt is the super-abundant ]red-billed quelea
The red-billed quelea (; ''Quelea quelea''), also known as the red-billed weaver or red-billed dioch, is a small—approximately long and weighing —migratory, sparrow-like bird of the weaver family, Ploceidae, native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
...
(''Quelea quelea''). Near poultry farms, tawny eagles can take to not infrequently lifting free-range chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
s (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') and other poultry
Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, ...
, especially when the eagles must feed their young, thus in turn potentially drawing ire of local farmers.[
Various snakes are taken opportunistically by tawny eagles and they can be quite bold about hunting venomous snakes. In southern Africa and Kenya the following snakes have been identified in the foods of tawny eagles: Egyptian sand boa (''Eryx colubrinus''), young ]African rock python
The Central African rock python (''Python sebae'') is a species of large constrictor snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of 11 living species in the genus ''Python''.
Africa's largest snake ...
(''Python sebae''), speckled sand racer (''Psammophis punctulatus''), rufous beaked snake
The rufous beaked snake (''Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus'') is a species of mildly venomous snake in the family Psammophiidae. The species is native to East Africa. Its common name refers to its hooked snout, which it uses to dig burrows, and to its ...
(''Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus''), black-necked spitting cobra (''Naja nigricollis''), black mamba (''Dendroaspis polylepis''), boomslang (''Dispholidus typus'') and puff adder
The puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') is a viper species found in savannahs and grasslands from Morocco and western Arabia throughout Africa except for the Sahara and rainforest regions.U.S. Navy. 1991. ''Venomous Snakes of the World''. US Govt. ...
(''Bitis arietans'').[Brown, L. H. (1952). ''On the biology of the large birds of prey of the Embu district, Kenya colony''. Ibis, 94(4), 577-620.] They also hunt lizards not infrequently given the chance, usually favoring fairly large species but capable of taking those ranging from geckos
Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from .
Geckos ar ...
to rock monitors (''Varanus albigularis'').[ At one nest in Zimbabwe, monitor lizards made up 29% of 83 prey items, but they were only 8% of 107 prey items of 3 other nests in the same park.][ One of the most frequently seen prey to be taken by tawny eagles in India have been Indian spiny-tailed lizard (''Saara hardwickii'').][ More minor prey have included ]turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
s, frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...
s and toads and fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
. A tawny eagle in southern Africa was seen to wade into shallow water and successfully pull out a largish catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...
.[ Tawny eagles can also take communal nesting and swarming insects fairly frequently. These are generally ]termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blatto ...
s, which can attract several of these eagles especially amongst non-breeding eagles and young ones. When visiting termites, the tawny eagles commonly eat alate
Alate (Latin ''ālātus'', from ''āla'' (“wing”)) is an adjective and noun used in entomology and botany to refer to something that has wings or winglike structures.
In entomology
In entomology, "alate" usually refers to the winged form o ...
s and may, with an unusual lack of aggression, share the food source with several other birds of prey, including as many as a half dozen conspecifics. At times, tawny eagles can also be attracted to swarms of grasshoppers. In one case, a tawny eagle was seen consuming the fruit of an '' Adansonia'' tree, an unusual instance of frugivory which is very rare in accipitrids other than one unusual species: the palm-nut vulture (''Gypohierax angolensis'').[ A tawny eagle was once witnessed picking through ]elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
dung along with a vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
, presumably searching for dung beetles to consume.
Carrion
Although the tawny eagle does hunt for food, it also relies extensively on carrion as a food source.[ Although most booted eagles and ''Aquila'' will opportunistically feed on carrion, none is known to do so as routinely as the tawny eagle.][ They have been recorded feeding on a huge array of carcasses as large as African bush elephants (''Loxodonta africana'') and at least as small 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 and perhaps even down to the size of a dove
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
.[ Perhaps most frequently in Africa, tawny eagles will feed at carcasses of ]ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, ...
s such as antelope.[ At least 30-40 different species of ungulate have been recorded as carrion food-sources for these eagles.][ At "vulture restaurants" 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 ...
, feeding stations with dead livestock meant to mitigate the rapid decline in population of most African vultures, the tawny eagle was the second most often recorded scavenger at just under 35% of 1088 of recorded birds to feed at them. The tawny eagle shares its carrion food sources almost invariably with vultures and usually with several other scavengers such as jackal
Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...
s and hyenas. Other birds that frequently also attend carrion are bateleur
The bateleur (; ''Terathopius ecaudatus'') is a medium-sized eagle in the family Accipitridae. It is often considered a relative of the snake eagles and, like them, it is classified within the subfamily Circaetinae.Kemp, A. C., G. M. Kirwan, ...
s, many other eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
s (including steppe eagle
The steppe eagle (''Aquila nipalensis'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "booted ...
s) and marabou storks (''Leptoptilos crumenifer'').[Mundy, P.J. (1982). ''The comparative biology of southern African vultures''. Johannesburg. Vulture Study Group.][Dean, W. R. J., & MacDonald, I. A. W. (1981). A review of African birds feeding in association with mammals. Ostrich, 52(3), 135-155.] The producer-scrounger theory predicts that vultures rely on eagles for information on carcasses. Due to their smaller size, eagles, i.e. tawny eagles and bateleurs, are able to begin foraging earlier in the morning and are thus more likely to locate a carcass first.[ In 91 observed carcass in southern Africa, tawny eagles were verified to be the first to find 5 of them. Furthermore, vultures usually arrived in less than 40 minutes (in 75% of cases) after the tawny eagles found the carcass.][Brown, C. J. (1982). ''The behaviour of a Tawny Eagle at carrion''. Madoqua, 14 (1): 95-97.] At large carcasses, there is a hierarchical social structure based on the size of the scavenger.[ At Maasai Mara, the top scavengers were the considerably to slightly heavier mammals, i.e. spotted hyenas (''Crocuta croctua''), black-backed jackals (''Canis mesomelas'') and ]