Throughout southern Africa there is no sucha bird of prey, which in strength and courage could give way to the battle eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), belonging to the family of hawks. The range of its habitat is all part of the continent to the south of the Sahara, especially open areas of the terrain. The only exception is the forest regions of South Africa.
This is a fairly large bird, the wingspanwhich is up to 227 cm, and the length of the trunk is 80-86 cm. The upper part is covered with feathers of dark brown color, with the addition of almost black color in the head region. The abdomen is almost white, with little barely noticeable brown spots. A 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 that does not know itself among the birds. Large female combat eagle can reach a mass of 7 kg.
Battle Eagle - the bird is very cautious andobservant, therefore, a lone tree adapts to its dwelling, from which everything that is done in the district is clearly visible. A pair of birds keeps together, flying periodically their territory and preventing the appearance of any other predatory birds around them. When such an invasion occurs, the combat qualities of the eagle are very useful, and any predator flies. The area, owned by the family of eagles, reaches 1000 square meters. meters. Nest pairs at a distance of at least 50 km from each other.
Feed for the battle eagle are birds andmammals of small and medium size, such as damans, meerkats, cubs of gazelles or impala, young monkeys, etc. He does not refuse from reptiles, hunting sometimes for snakes and lizards.
In the fork of the tallest tree builds its ownnest this feathered predator. If there are no trees in the district, it is necessary to nest on inaccessible protrusions of rocks. It is engaged in the construction of a predominantly female, constructing a very surprising in strength nest up to 2 meters in diameter, it can safely accommodate even a person. It is performed in a very peculiar way and consists of several layers. In the beginning, thick sticks are laid, then comes a layer of dry leaves, branches, moss and other plant elements that are nearby. Finishes the construction of the upper layer of thin twigs forming a tray.
When the nest is completely ready, the female laysin it 2 white spherical eggs about 8 cm in size. The feeding of the female during the incubation of eggs is provided by the male (for about one and a half months). When the chicks appear, it also feeds the entire family, but it does so only as long as the younger generation does not grow up. Later, the chicks require so much food that even two parents can not always get it. Therefore, a battle eagle is able to sometimes take food from other predators. After 3 months the chicks begin to make the first test flights from the parent nest. By the time around him, whole piles of bones of the most diverse animals have accumulated. Adult plumage in young animals appears only on the 7th month of life.
There are practically no enemies in the battle eagle,unless you count a person. Farmers often hunt for it, fearing for their pets. Recently, the number of the combat eagle is noticeably reduced, and this represents a real threat that a group of Predatory Birds may lose such a magnificent representative altogether.
