African Hawk-eagle
A species of Greater True Eagles Scientific name : Aquila spilogaster Genus : Greater True Eagles
African Hawk-eagle, A species of Greater True Eagles
Botanical name: Aquila spilogaster
Genus: Greater True Eagles
Content
Description General Info
Description
The African hawk-eagle is a small to medium-sized eagle at about 55–65 centimetres (22–26 in) in length. The upper parts are blackish. Its underparts are white heavily streaked with black. The underwing flight feathers are white with a black trailing edge. The underwing coverts are mostly black with white spots. Sexes are similar, but young birds are brown above and rufous coloration replaces the black underparts of the adult. It was noted in a 2010 study that you could possibly distinguish a male and female adult due to the fact that the female tends to be more heavily marked below than a male. They can easily be confused with the Ayres's hawk-eagle however in flight, the Ayres lacks the white windows on the primaries and tends to be smaller with a nuchal crest. Their underparts are also more heavily streaked than that of the African hawk-eagle. 
Size
70 cm
Nest Placement
Tree
Feeding Habits
African Hawk-eagle primarily hunts birds, like spurfowl and guineafowl, by flushing them from vegetation or from a perch or air. Small mammals, reptiles, and insects also form part of its diet. Cooperative hunting is observed with one african Hawk-eagle flushing prey for the striking partner.
Habitat
The african Hawk-eagle thrives in sub-Saharan Africa, inhabiting diverse wooded ecosystems. Key habitats encompass open woodlands, savannas, and areas with scattered trees, especially along forest edges and broad-leaved woodlands. While avoiding dense forests and high mountains, they adapt to semi-desert areas, riparian woodlands, and thorny brushlands, even utilizing agricultural landscapes with ample trees.
Dite type
Carnivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Distribution Area
The African hawk-eagle is found in large parts of Africa south of the Sahara. It occurs in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, DRCongo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This is a bird of well-wooded countryside which does not occur in forests. They can inhabit sparse savanna, semi-desert areas to tall broad-leaved woodland and avoid evergreen forests and mountainous areas. They have however been known to nest on cliff faces which is counter-intuitive.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
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