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| Martial Eagle in flight. |
The Martial eagle is the largest of all eagles found in
Africa and weighing 3 - 6.2kg (6.6 - 13.7lb) making it the fifth heaviest eagle on the planet. They live in open and semi-open areas of sub-Saharan
Africa.
This eagle’s upperparts are a dark brown colour, their
bellies are white with black streaks and they have grey specks on their head
and chest. They have pure white legs with large, powerful talons.
The Martial eagle can reach a length of up to 96cm (38in)
and has an impressive wingspan of up to 260cm (8ft 6in). The females are larger
with more specks than their male counterparts.
Habitat
As mentioned they live in sub-Saharan Africa, making home in
open or semi-open habitats. Their numbers are greater in protected areas such
as the Kruger National Park and other nature reserves.
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| Martial Eagle nest. |
They make nests in areas such as woodlands, savannah regions
with trees and thorn bush environments. Their territories range in size, from less than 10km (6.2mi) distance to more than 1000km2 (390sqmi).
Behaviour
They bathe daily in order to keep their feathers clean and
working efficiently.
Diet
The Martial eagle has exceptional eyesight being 4 times
better than a human’s eyesight. It is with this excellent eyesight they are
able to spot prey 3 to 5 kilometres away.
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| Martial Eagle. |
They are on top of the avian food chain and have no natural
predators with humans being their only threat.
Their diet consists of a wide range of prey, such as other
birds including guinea fowls, francolins and bustards and mammalians mainly
hyraxes and small antelopes. They also eat carnivores like mongoose, serval
cats and jackals. This eagle will munch on reptiles including large lizards and
even some snakes.
This large eagle hunts for unsuspecting prey usually by
circling the skies above their territories and stooping suddenly to catch their
meals. They have also been known to hunt from a perch although not often.
Reproduction
Martial eagles form monogamous pairs when reaching sexual
maturity at 5 years of age. The pair mates during the dry season in their
geographic area. A pair of Martial eagles tend to only mate once every two years.
The male performs a somewhat subtle mating dance for the female by flying in
circles. Although rare, the females will sometimes join the male for a dance in
the skies, grasping their talons to one another’s.
They build their nest in a large tree often placing them in
the main fork of the tree standing at least 6 metres (20ft) high off the
ground.
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| Martial Eagle chick. |
The female usually lays only one egg, sometimes two eggs and
incubates the egg for 45 to 53 days. The female remains in the area with the
egg or young chick while the male hunts and brings prey to the nest. After about
50 days of daddy duty, the male is seldom seen while the mother hunts and
brings the prey to the nest herself.
Martial eagle chicks practice hunting alongside their
parents and learn to fly. The time comes to fly the nest for good usually after
6 to 12 months and find their very own territory.
Did you know?
The Martial eagle can knock a grown man off his feet and is
said to have such powerful talons capable of breaking a person’s arm.
They live on average up to 16 years and a maximum of 30
years in the wild.
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