Tanzania - 2020 - Part 7 - Featuring Martial Eagle

/

Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus)
Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera
40-150mm f/2.8 Lens at 150mm
1/1600 sec at f/5.6, ISO 500


The largest eagle in Africa, the adult weighs about 14 pounds. The wingspan is about 6 feet or a little more. The bird shown in this blog entry is a juvenile. The entire underside is white; in the adult the white belly has black streaks. The upperparts of the adult are dark brown, but as you can see, the juvenile’s are mottled grey-brown and white. The patterns of bars on primaries and tail are similar in adult and juvenile, but lighter in the juvenile. The Martial Eagle reaches adult plumage in its seventh year.

Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera
300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/4, ISO 3200

This is not a Martial Eagle. The lioness is warning you not to look at any of the remaining photos IF you become squeamish when viewing a predator consuming prey.

Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera
300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens + 1.4x teleconverter
1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 125

The diet of Martial Eagle varies greatly with prey availability. In some areas birds form an important part of the diet. In other areas it feeds on mammals such as small antelopes, some monkeys, young domestic goats and lambs. It may eat also a few snakes and large lizards.

Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera
300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/4, ISO 320

“Martial Eagles will soar for hours on updraughts without hunting, and with a full crop, but it does most of its hunting from the soar also, killing or attacking by a long slanting stoop at great speed, or a gentle descent into an opening in the bush, the speed of the descent being controlled by the angle at which the wings are held above the back. It may kill from a perch, but does so seldom, and most of its kills are surprised in the open by the speed of the eagle's attack from a distance.” Source

Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera
300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/4, ISO 320

What is the prey? I do not know. I thought that on the basis of the “white sox” of the feet and the reddish fur on the remainder of the visible prey it would be easy to determine the identify of the prey. Not so. I looked at many sites with multiple search strategies and came up empty. Suggestions welcome.

Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera
300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens + 1.4x teleconverter
1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 125

Another blog entry will contain several photos of this bird in flight.

/ /

David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.