Description
Life span: Up to 14- 25 years
The Martial eagle is the biggest eagle in Africa. The adult’s feathers have a somewhat lighter border and are dark brown on the upperparts, head, and upper chest. The dark feathers might appear greyish, blackish, or even plum-colored depending on the lighting. The body’s underside is white with sporadic but distinct blackish-brown spots. Large feet, pale greenish cere, bright yellow eyes, and black talons are all characteristics of mature martial eagles. Juveniles have a speckled grey appearance on the crown and hind neck, as well as an above coloration of pearly grey with noticeable white edging. The bottom is brilliantly white throughout.
Native Region/Habitat
The martial eagle can be found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa. They favour open woodlands, forest borders, wooded savannah environments, and thornbush areas. These eagles also stay away from dense woods and extremely dry areas. In southern Africa more than anywhere else in their range, they have adapted to open habitats including semi-desert, open savanna with a few scattered trees, and forested hillocks. It seems that martial eagles choose isolated or safe habitats.
Behavior
The martial eagle spends a lot of time in the air, frequently soaring above hill slopes that are so high that viewing them without binoculars is impossible. When not breeding, a breeding pair’s two mature eagles can be spotted roosting separately in a prominent tree up to several miles from the location of their nest. These eagles are most likely hunting in one area for several days until the area’s viable prey resources are depleted, at which point they will move on to another. However, martial eagles, especially mature birds, are usually devoted to less disturbed habitats since these often offer a more varied range of prey as well as because they seem to resent a substantial human presence. Martial eagles are notoriously solitary during the breeding season and are not known to accept other individuals of their own species in the vicinity of the pair.
As a pet/In captivity
The keeping of eagles as pets is prohibited. But a martin eagle would be a wonderful pet. If a pet eagle’s owner could teach it to execute fantastic aerial manoeuvres and dives, that would be a good alternative. The fact that it needs greater space to fly is the sole drawback of owning this bird as a pet.
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