African Fish Eagle

African Fish Eagle - Bielik afrykański

Botswana, Okavango Delta, 2012

Uganda, 2016

Uganda, 2016

Uganda, 2016

Description

The African fish-eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) is probably the most familiar bird of prey in Africa.  The adult is very distinctive in appearance with a mostly brown body and large, powerful, black wings. The head, breast, and tail of African Fish Eagles are snow white, with the exception of the featherless face, which is yellow. The eyes are dark brown in color. The hook-shaped beak, ideal for a carnivorous lifestyle, is yellow with a black tip. The plumage of the juvenile is brown in color, and the eyes are paler compared to the adult. The feet have rough soles and are equipped with powerful talons in order to enable the eagle to grasp slippery aquatic prey. 

Habitat

African Fish-Eagle lives near large streams, lakes and marshes. It can be found near coastal lagoons and dams, and in estuaries. Several examples of places where they may be resident include the Orange River in South Africa and Namibia, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and Lake Malawi bordering its namesake country Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique. 

Voice

Its distinctive cry is, for many, evocative of the spirit or essence of Africa. The call, shriller when uttered by males, is a weee-ah, hyo-hyo or a heee-ah, heeah-heeah. 
 
Sounds of African Fish Eagle

Diet

The African Fish Eagle feeds mainly on fish, which it will swoop down upon from a perch in a tree, snatching the prey from the water with its large clawed talons. The eagle will then fly back to its perch to eat its catch. But it also consumes carrion, eggs and chicks of shore birds, some aquatic birds (larger than flamingos), more rarely monkeys, lizards, frogs, sea-turtles or insects.  

Reproduction

Adult African fish-eagles are normally seen in pairs, but on large, productive lakes, nests and roosts may be only a few hundred meters apart, and many birds can be found together in one area. The stick nests are usually built in a tree close to water and are used year after year, growing in size over time with the addition of reeds, papyrus heads, bulrushes and sometimes weaver nests. Calling and duetting, whilst perched or soaring, is an integral part of the breeding display, and is combined with dramatic aerial dives and falls, with pairs interlocking talons in mid air. The female normally lays one to three eggs in the nest, which are incubated for around 44 days before hatching. Until the chicks fledge after around 65 to 75 days, it is necessary for the adults to spend considerably more time hunting for food, compared with other times of the year. In the wild, African fish-eagles that are fortunate to survive the first year have an estimated life expectancy of 12 to 24 years.


DID YOU KNOW?

The African Fish Eagle has two distinct calls. When near the nest its call is more of a "quock" sound - the female being, in all cases, a little shriller and less mellow than the male. So well known and clear is the call of this bird that it is often known as "the voice of Africa".


Photos by others

Sources
Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaOiseaux-birds.com
Arkive