Rain, Wind and Hail over Earth, Wind and Fire seems to be the weather conditions of the week as we charge into 2016. Last weeks the squirmy Spider-Tailed Horned Viper took the spotlight, as well as a host of other aggressive mimics. Speaking of aggression, this week’s issue has boatloads of it and a taste for primates. Hope you guys enjoy.

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Issue #103 – African Crowned Eagle

Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Chordata

Class – Aves

Order – Acciptriformes

Family – Acciptridae

Genus – Stephanoateus

Species – coronatus

Related Species – The African Crowned Eagle is unrelated to the other ‘Crowned Eagle’ species, and is the only member of the genus Stephanoateus (1)

Range

The Eagle Queen

The African Crowned Eagle is a relatively large raptor, with a body length of just under a meter and a wingspan of around one and a half to two meters. As its name suggests the bird has two fringes of feathers on the head which are the same uniform dark brown of the bird’s dorsal feathers. Being one of the forest dwelling raptors, the Crowned Eagle has relatively broad wings and an unusually long tail to add it in changing direction quickly mid-flight in a cluttered environment. Perhaps one of the most striking features of the species however, is the incredibly robust feet and large talons which are only slightly shorter than species such as the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) and the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) both of which are double the weight of the largest Crowned Eagles (1).

It is these talons, which can reach a length of 10cm, which are used to kill prey either by crushing the windpipe of its victims, or crushing the skull upon the initial impact. Unlike many other raptors, the Crowned Eagle will wait for prey from a hunting perch, thus negating the need for long periods of soaring, something its wing structure is ill designed to do, over a large territory. Preferred prey consists of primates, but small antelopes, reptiles and birds are also taken, with average prey size consisting of 1-5kg, and maximum prey size reaching around 20kg. Food items too large (5kg or over) to be carried back to its nest is usually disembowelled and stored in a tree cavity for later transport.

Like most raptors, the Crowned Eagle is a slow breeder, reproducing every two years with an individual breeding cycle lasting around 500 days on average. Both the male and female construct the tree top nest, with breeding nests reused across multiple breeding cycles. Two eggs are usually laid, with an incubation period of fifty days occurring before hatching. As with other raptor species the younger chick is quickly consumed by its older sibling, even under conditions when food is plentiful. Fledging occurs within four months of hatching, but will be continued to be fed every couple of days by its parents for almost a year. Upon maturation the young eagle will leave its parents territory to establish its own hunting grounds.

Five Fun African Crowned Eagle Facts

Crowned Eagles have the longest post-fledging dependency period of any raptor (3)

A well used Crowned Eagle nest can be over 2m wide and 3m deep

Crowned Eagles, alongside Leopards (Panthera pardus) and Spotted Hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are among the earliest known predators of hominids. Fossil evidence from Taung, South Africa shows the skull of the early hominid Austrolopithicus africanus crushed by the talons of a Crowned Eagle.

Crowned Eagles are also one of the few raptors to actively attack human children as part of a predatory response. Human bones found in ‘eagle caches’, as well as eyewitness accounts of attacks have been confirmed in recent years.

Until recently a second species of crowned eagle, the Malagasy Crowned Eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery) existed on Madagascar (4). Like its extant relative it was an aggressive hunter and along with the eggs of the Elephant Bird (Famly: Aepyornithidae) is a likely inspiration for the mythical Roc

Bibliography

1 - www.arkive.org

2 - Worthy, T.H. & Holdaway, R.N. 2002. The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press,

3 - Brown, L. 1976. Eagles of the World. David and Charles

4 - Goodman, Steven M. (1994). "Description of a new species of subfossil eagle from Madagascar: Stephanoaetus (Aves: Falconiformes) from the deposits of Ampasambazimba". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (107): 421–428.

Picture References

1 - http://www.outdoorphoto.community/gallery/data/523/2012-10-02_09-42-40_377_resize.jpg

2 - http://www.planetofbirds.com/Master/ACCIPITRIFORMES/Accipitridae/maps/Crowned%20Eagle.jpg

3 - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FaBTAwtHX-4/T7OcWFOyBmI/AAAAAAAAAbw/fTtB6DTxsVw/s1600/06.JPG

4 - http://www.africanraptors.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_0306.jpg

And there we have it, the real life angry bird with a taste for primates. Still these birds don’t have it all their own way, as next week’s tide-pool predator proves. But until then critic, comment and suggest future issues as well as making sure you check past issues in Impurest’s Bestiary.

Many Thanks

Impurest Cheese