Martial Eagle
Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAR : Martial Eagle
The Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), is Africa's largest eagle, growing to a length of 76-83 cm. Its preferred habitat is south of the Sahara Desert, in the semidesert and open savanna regions of southern and eastern Africa. The eagle prefers to feed on game birds, but also eats animals such as snakes, jackals, lizards, young impalas and meerkats.
The eagles live as long as 50 years, with the female being larger than the male. They build nests up to 2 m across and 0.9 m deep. Males tend to weigh about 5 kg, with females averaging 6 kg. Wingspan is over 2.5 m.
The Martial Eagle has a slow reproduction rate of one chalky white egg every three years. This only occurs after the female reaches maturity which is about seven years after birth. This makes for about 14 hatchlings from one bird over the course of one life time.
Even though large and fierce, Martial Eagles are shot as they pursue farmers, young goats and lambs; as a result, the eagles are slowly dying away.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). [Polemaetus bellicosus]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Wildlife Fact File, card #102
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.