From Opus

Photo by obasanmi
Photo taken: Bandhavgarh, India

Aquila fasciata

Hieraaetus fasciatus

[edit] Identification

55-65cm

• Dark brown upperparts
  • White patch on mantle
• White underside with dark streaks
• Short and rounded wings
  • Whitish fore-underwing-coverts (ie lesser/median coverts)
  • Blackish rear underwing-coverts (ie greater/median coverts and primary coverts)
  • Dusky flight-feathers
• Tail: grey tail on top, white below, single broad black terminal band
• Yellow feet and iris
  

Immature: deep buff below and on underwing coverts, fine barring on tail, which lacks a terminal band.

[edit] Similar Species

African Hawk Eagle never shows the white patch on the mantle; in the adult bird, flight feathers should be whitish with a broad black trailing edge.

[edit] Distribution

Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Generally rare in Europe, the stronghold is Spain where it is found almost throughout the country except the north-east. Also found in southern France, Sardinia, and Sicily, scattered in parts of the former Yugoslavia and Greece, Crete, and some other Greek islands, Cyprus and in parts of Turkey. In North Africa occurs in the mountains of Morocco, north Algeria and in north Tunisia and in the Middle East breeds very locally in Israel and Jordan and patchily on the Arabian Peninsula. It has recently been detected in Djibuti and in Sudan. Declining in most areas. In Asia occurs from Iran eastwards through most of India and Nepal to South-East Asia, and eastern and southern China. Also occurs in the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Photo by rony_roshtov
Eyn Ovdat, Israel, February 2006

Occasionally birds have been seen crossing the Mediterranean at Gibraltar but this is basically a resident species. However, young birds do disperse and vagrants have been recorded north to the Netherlands, Germany and even Finland, and although seen as close as Belgium, there are no records as yet for Britain. A 1974 record for Denmark has recently been reviewed and placed in Category D, ie there are doubts about the origins of the bird involved. Vagrants also recorded on the Canary Islands, Balearics and Kuwait.

[edit] Taxonomy

African Hawk-Eagle has been split from Bonelli's Eagle. Both were formerly placed in genus Hieraaetus.

[edit] Subspecies

Two subspecies recognised:

• A. f. fasciata:

• Mediterranean basin to India, southern China and Indochina

• A. f. renschi:

• Lesser Sundas

[edit] Habitat

Mainly in mountain areas, nesting on crags or cliff-faces and hunting over maquis, open woodland and forest edge. Out of the breeding season often hunts over wetlands and more open country.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

It nests in a tree or on a crag. The clutch consists of 1-3 eggs.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes mammals or birds.

[edit] Vocalisation

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Birdforum thread discussing separation of Bonelli's Eagle from African Hawk Eagle

• List of references

[edit] External Links