Bateleur
Order: Falconiformes Family: Accipitridae Genus & Species: Terathopius ecuadatus
Bateleur is a French word meaning 'circus performer', referring to the eagles aerobatic displays. It has a habit of rocking to left and right like a tightrope walker.
Habitat
The bateleur prefers lightly wooded areas and savannah dotted with acacias
and other trees that will provide perches and nesting sites. It occasionally ranges
into semi-desert thornbush and open grassland. In West Africa it migrates to the
fringes of the Sahara during the rainy season. Although it usually avoids dense
forest regions and mountains, the bateleur has been found nesting at altitudes of more
than 4000m in Ethiopa.
Behaviour
The bateleur is adapted for soaring and gliding, having long wings and a
short tail. It turns by banking from side to side. It stays in the air for
most of the day, soaring on thermals. Adults usually remain in their large
territories, but juveniles wander more widely, often covering up to 300km a day.
| What they eat The bateleur will take anything from grasshoppers and crabs to small species of antelope. Juveniles gather in groups to feed on winged termites emerging from their nests. Adults hunt birds as big as guinea fowl. They will also take carrion, especially road victims. They will even snatch carcasses from vultures and other scavengers. Small mammals are probably the favourite prey, which it hunts from a height of around 50m or so. It glides back and forth watching the ground for any tell tale sign of movement that could betray a grass rat, springhare or a gazelle fawn. On spotting a victim it corkscrews down in a tight spiral, slamming into its target with its talons. It then tears up the carcass with its sharp bill. |
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Breeding
The bateleur breeds throughout the year, but in East Africa, mating peaks in
February and March. Courtship is a series of aerobatics in which the partners dive
and roll and the female flies upside down and presents her talons to the male as he swoops
past. They usually nest in large trees, building a deep nest of sticks lined with
leaves. The nest is repaired each year. The female lays a single white egg,
occasionally dotted with a few red speckles. Incubation lasts approx eight weeks,
and is taken on by the female. Both parents rear the chick, and a juvenile reared
the previous season often helps, bringing food for its younger sibling.