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Aquila pennatus (Booted
eagle)
[= Hieraaetus pennatus]
Dwergarend [Afrikaans]; Ekangakodi (also applied to some of
the other eagles) [Kwangali]; Dwergarend [Dutch]; Aigle botté [French];
Zwergadler [German]; Águia-calçada [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Falconiformes
> Family: Accipitridae
> Genus: Aquila
Distribution and habitat
It mainly breeds from central Asia to southern Europe and
North Africa, heading south in the non-breeding season to India and much of
sub-Saharan Africa from Mauritania to Somalia south to southern Africa. Here it
is locally fairly common in patches across the region, but it is has a small
breeding population in the Western and Eastern Cape. It generally prefers
mountainous country with cliffs, although non-breeding migrants can occur in
almost any type of natural habitat.
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Distribution of Booted eagle in southern Africa,
based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas
Project (©
Animal Demography unit, University of
Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range
from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common).
See here for the latest distribution
from the SABAP2. |
Movements and migrations
Complex, as it has two different populations
which occur in Africa, each with a different migratory pattern. The
one breeds in Eurasia before heading south to much of southern
Africa excluding the Western Cape and Namibia, staying from
November-February. The other population breeds in the Western and
Eastern Cape, arriving from July-August and staying until March, at
which point it disperses to non-breeding grounds in Namibia and
southern Angola.
Food
It mainly eats birds, usually hunting aerially, stooping
nearly vertically from high up above ground so that it can surprise and strike
its prey from above, sometimes hitting the ground with a thump instead of
recovering from the dive. The following food items have been recorded
in its diet:
- birds
- reptiles
- lizards
- small tortoises (dropped onto rocks to break the shell)
-
rodents
-
termite alates
Breeding
- Monogamous, territorial solitary nester, performing spectacular aerial
displays in which it calls loudly while performing steep dives and upward
stoops.
- The nest is built or refurbished by both sexes, consisting of a platform
of thin sticks and twigs with cup lined with green leaves. It is typically
placed at the base of a bush or small tree on a cliff ledge, often using the
same nest repeatedly for up to about 28 years. It may also rarely breed in
the canopy of a Eucalyptus tree in open land, sometimes using the old
nest of a Grey Heron or
Black kite.
- Egg-laying season is from August-January, peaking from
September-October.
- It almost invariably lays a single egg, which is mainly incubated by the
female for about 44-46 days.
- The chick is fed by the female with food provided by the male, leaving
the nest after about 70-75 days.
Threats
Not threatened, although in some localities its population
is decreasing due to habitat disturbance and poisoning.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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