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African Hawk-eagle



         


African Hawk Eagle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Accipitriformes
Family:Accipitridae
Genus:Binomial name
Hieraaetus spilogaster
(Bonaparte, 1850)

The African Hawk Eagle (Hieraaetus spilogaster) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae.

African Hawk Eagle breeds in tropical Africa south of the Sahara. It is a bird of wooded hills, which builds a stick nest about 3 feet in diameter in the fork of a large tree. The clutch is one or two eggs

African Hawk Eagle is a largish eagle at about 55-65cm in length. The upperparts are blackish. The body underparts are white, heavily streaked with black. The underwing flight feathers are white with a black trailing edge. The underwing coverts are mostly black with white spots.

Sexes are similar, but young birds are brown above, and rufous coloration replaces the black underparts of the adult.

The African Hawk Eagle hunts small mammals, reptiles, and birds up to the size of a francolin. The call is a shrill kluu-kluu-kluu.

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