Wahlberg's Eagle
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| Wahlberg's Eagle | ||||||||||||||
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| Aquila wahlbergi Sundevall, 1851 |
The Wahlberg's Eagle (Aquila wahlbergi) is a bird of prey. It is about 55-60cm in length and has a wingspan of 130-160cm. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae.
Wahlberg's Eagle breeds in most of Africa south of the Sahara. It is a bird of woodland, often near water. It builds a stick nest in the fork of a tree or the crown of a palm tree. The clutch is one or two eggs
Wahlberg's Eagle is a medium-sized raptor. The plumage is dark brown except for dark streaked grey undersides to the flight feathers, and a barred grey undertail. The head has a small crest, and the legs are yellow.
There is a pale variant which is much lighter brown with whitish, rather than grey undertail and flight feather undersides. Sexes are similar.
In flight, this species is very cross-shaped, with long evenly wide wings, a slim body and long narrow square-ended tail. The wings are held very flat.
Wahlberg's Eagle hunts reptiles, small mammals and birds. The call is a whistled kleeah-kleeah-kleeah.
This bird is named after the Swedish naturalist Johan August Wahlberg.
Reference
- Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1