Download - The M artial Eagle
The Martial Eagle
By Connor Gjurasic
Distribution and Habitat• Distribution in Southern half of Africa
• Flat land is usually needed for their habitat
• Prefer semi-desert and sub-Sahara
• Other habitats are open woodland and wooded savanna
• They stay close from 1,000 miles to 3,000 miles in sea level
Classification• Scientific name- Polemaetus Bellicosus
• Family- Accipatrade (Which means curved bills and eats small mammals and insects)
• Order- Falconiformes (group of 304 species with curved bills and sharp talons)
• Class- Aves (around 10,000 species of Aves and only animals with feathers)
• Phylum- chordate(has four features: pharyngeal slits, dorsal nerve cord, notochord, and post-anal hole)
• Kingdom- Animalia(means multicellular)
Conservation Status• Near endangered at 30,000 Martial Eagles
• Population dropped 20% in last three generations and is declining
• Main reason for loss in population is because of farmers
• Farmers blame the Martial Eagles for the loss of their livestock, the reason of this is because the presence of a Martial Eagle shows a nutritious environment
• Martial Eagles rarely even hunt livestock
• Farmers kill the eagles by shooting or poisoning them
• They drown in steep farming reservoirs
• Also the Martial Eagle dies by collision with telephone wires and pylons
Physical Characteristics• Pelage- Feathers
• Pelage is the coat of an animal such as fur, skin, hair, and feathers
• Biggest African Eagle
• Length- 76-83 cm
• Wingspan- 190-260 cm
• Weight- 7-14 lbs
• Black head
• Yellow eyes
• Dark black beak
• Dark brown back
• White chest with black spots
• Dark brown wings
• White legs and feet
• Large black talons
• Young Martial Eagles are whiter than adults
• Female is larger than the male
• Dark brown barred tail
• Young Martial Eagles are whiter than adults
Reproductive characteristics• These eagles don’t have a mating dance
• Martial Eagles are monogamous(one Martial Eagle only has one mate for life)
• When they have mating periods both the male and female will make a loud cry ”kwi-kwi-kluee-kluee” in the nest.
• Females lay only one egg a year ,but rarely they lay two a year
• Incubation is 45 days
Parental care• Hatchlings are active in 20 days
• The young Martial Eagle leaves the nest at 6 months
• The father brings food to the mother for her to give to the young eagle
• The mother watchers over the young
• Nests can be on a tree or a tall man-made structure
• The nests are 20 to 80 ft high
• Materials for the nest are large wood sticks and leaves that line the sticks
• The diameter of the nest is 4 to 6 ft and is 4 ft thick
• The eagles create more than one nest and are used every year
Longevity and Morality• Longevity is 30 years in protective care
• Only 16 years in the wild for both male and female
• Mortality is mostly from direct or indirect persecution
• Direct persecution is from farmers killing them
• Indirect persecution is from drowning in steep farming reservoirs and collision with telephone poles and wires
• In South Africa there are a few facilities to protect the Martial Eagle from being endangered
Diet • Eat medium sized mammals such as monkeys, impala, goats,
lambs, mongoose, European Stork, other birds, snakes, lizards, and warthogs
Predators • Doesn’t have any animal predators except maybe a leopard
steeling an egg from a nest
• Farmers are the main threat to the Martial Eagle
• The Martial Eagle has lost most of its population because of farmers shooting or poisoning them
• Tall manmade objects such as telephone poles have been an issue also
• Another threat is because the loss of their habitat from destruction
• People propose to make farming awareness programs for the farmers loss of stalk and anti-electrocution devices on telephone pylons
Human interactions• Martial Eagles try to stay away from humans because of the
human persecution
• There is a small quantity of people that have a Martial Eagle for falconry
Interesting facts• Strongest African eagle
• The Martial Eagle can knock a man off their feet
• Their talons are strong enough to break a man’s arm bone
• The height of a Martial Eagle flying in the sky is barley able to be seen with binoculars
• To keep clean they bathe daily
Works cited"Birds of Prey-The Martial Eagle." Hub Pages. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
<http://bdegiulio.hubpages.com/hub/Birds-of-Prey-The-Martial-Eagle>.
Boshoff, A. F. "Martial Eagle." The Atlas of Southern African Birds 1 (1997).
"Martial Eagle." Amazing Animals of the World. Grolier Online, 2013.Web. 25 Feb. 2013.
"Martial Eagle." Martial Eagle- Pictuers and Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
<http://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/birds/Falconiformes/Accipitridae/Polemaetu
s-bellicosus>.
"Martial Eagle." Oiseaux-Birds. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. <http://www.oiseaux-
birds.com/home-page.html>.
"Martial Eagle Polemaetus Bellicosus." Bird Life International. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
<http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3547>.
"Martial Eagle (Polemaetus Bellicosus)." Globally Threatened Bird Forums. N.p., n.d. Web. 26
Feb. 2013. <http://www.birdlife.org/globally-threatened-bird-forums/2013/01/martial-
eagle-polemaetus-bellicosus-uplist-to-vulnerable-or-endangered/>.
"Martial Eagles." Avian Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
<http://www.avianweb.com/martialeagles.html>.
Siyabona Africa. Kruger National Park, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.
<http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_martial_eagle.html>.
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