Throughout the entire southern part of Africa there is no such bird of prey, which in strength and courage could give way to a martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), belonging to the hawk family. Its habitat is the entire part of the continent south of the Sahara, especially the open areas. The only exceptions are the forest regions of South Africa.
External description
This is a rather large bird, the wingspan of which is up to 227 cm, and the body length is 80-86 cm. The upper part is covered with plumage of dark brown color, with the addition of an almost black color in the head area. The abdomen is almost white, with small barely noticeable brown spots. 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, who knows no equal among birds. Large female fighting eagles can reach a mass of 7 kg.
Behavior
The war eagle is a bird very cautious and observant, therefore it adapts a lone tree under its dwelling, from which everything that is done in the district is clearly visible. A pair of birds always keeps together, periodically flying around its territory and preventing the appearance of any other birds of prey nearby. When such an invasion occurs, the fighting qualities of the eagle come in handy, and any predator takes flight. The area owned by the family of eagles reaches 1000 square meters. meters. Couples nest at a distance of at least 50 km from each other.
Nutrition
Small and medium-sized birds and mammals, such as damans, meerkats, gazelle cubs or impalas, young monkeys, etc. serve as feed for a war eagle. He does not refuse reptiles, sometimes hunting for snakes and monitor lizards.
Pets are sometimes used as food - dogs, sheep, goats. The war eagle does not disdain anyone else’s prey, if such a case presents itself. He hunts, as a rule, in flight, hovering high in the sky, looking for prey, then at a high speed he quickly attacks it.
Breeding
In the fork of the tallest tree, this feathered predator builds its nest. If there are no trees in the area, you have to nest on inaccessible ledges of rocks. The female is mainly engaged in the construction, constructing a nest with a very amazing strength up to 2 meters in diameter, even a person can safely accommodate in it. It is performed in a very peculiar way and consists of several layers. First, thick sticks are laid, then there is a layer of dry leaves, branches, moss and other plant elements that are nearby. Finishes the construction of the top layer of thin rods forming a tray.
When the nest is completely ready, the female lays 2 white spherical eggs about 8 cm in size. The male provides the female with eggs during the course of hatching (for about a month and a half). When the chicks appear, he feeds the whole family already, though he does this only until the younger generation is a little older. Later, the chicks require such a large amount of food that even together the parents are not always able to get it. Therefore, a fighting eagle is sometimes able to take food from other predators. After 3 months, the chicks begin to make the first test flights from the parent nest. By that moment, whole piles of bones of various animals accumulate around him. Adult plumage in young animals appears only at the 7th month of life.
Enemies in a war eagle practically do not exist, unless you count a person. Farmers often hunt for it, fearing for their pets. Recently, the size of the war eagle has been declining markedly, and this poses a real threat that the Bird of Prey squad may even lose such a magnificent representative.