Battle Eagle: a description of the appearance, behavior and lifestyle of a predator

There is no bird of prey in the entire southern part of Africa, which the power eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), belonging to the family of hawks, could give in strength and courage. The range of its habitat is all part of the continent to the south of the Sahara, especially open areas of the terrain. The only exception is the forest regions of South Africa.

External Description

It is a fairly large bird with a wingspan of up to 227 cm and a body length of 80-86 cm. The upper part is covered with feathers of dark brown color, with the addition of almost black color in the head region. The abdomen is almost white, with small, barely noticeable brown spots. A muscular chest, powerful clawed paws, a stern look of gray-brown eyes and a hook-shaped beak immediately give out in him a serious predator that does not know itself among the birds. Large female combat eagle can reach a mass of 7 kg.

Behavior

The battle eagle - the bird is very cautious and observant, so a lonely tree adapts to its dwelling, from which everything that is done in the district is clearly visible. A pair of birds keeps together, flying periodically their territory and not allowing the appearance of any other predatory birds around them. When such an invasion occurs, the combat qualities of the eagle are very useful, and any predator flies. The area owned by the family of eagles, reaches 1000 square meters. Meters. Nest pairs at a distance of at least 50 km from each other.

Food

Feed for the war eagle are birds and mammals of small and medium size, such as dams, meerkats, cubs of gazelles or impala, young monkeys, etc. He does not refuse from reptiles, hunting sometimes for snakes and lizards. Sometimes, domestic animals, such as dogs, sheep, goats, also feed. Do not disdain war eagle and other people's prey, if such an opportunity arises. He hunts, as a rule, in flight, hovering high in the sky, looking for prey, then at high speed he attacks her swiftly.

Reproduction

In the fork of the tallest tree, this feathered predator builds its nest. If there are no trees in the district, it is necessary to nest on inaccessible protrusions of rocks. It is engaged in the construction of a predominantly female, building a very surprising in strength nest up to 2 meters in diameter, it can safely accommodate even a person. It is performed in a very peculiar way and consists of several layers. At first, thick sticks fit, then comes a layer of dry leaves, branches, moss and other plant elements that are nearby. Completes the construction of the upper layer of thin twigs forming a tray.

When the nest is completely ready, the female lays 2 white spherical eggs about 8 cm in size. The female feeds the male in the process of incubating the eggs (for about one and a half months). When the chicks appear, it also feeds the entire family, but it does so only as long as the younger generation does not grow up. Later, the chicks need so much food that even two of them parents are not always able to get it. Therefore, the battle eagle is able to sometimes take food from other predators. After 3 months the chicks begin to make the first test flights from the parent nest. By the time around him, whole piles of bones of the most diverse animals are accumulating. Adult plumage in young animals appears only on the 7th month of life.

Enemies near the battle eagle do not exist, unless you count the person. Farmers often hunt for it, fearing for their pets. Recently, the number of the combat eagle is noticeably decreasing, and this represents a real threat that the Predator Bird can lose such a magnificent representative altogether.