Famed eagle’s nest collapses

THE famous Crowned Eagle’s nest at Ronald’s Kloof has recently collapsed and fallen down into the gorge at the Kranzkloof Nature Reserve.

Paolo Candotti, of the Kloof Conservancy, reported that on Sunday 26 January he noticed the nest seemed unstable and was sloping to one end. “At that time the juvenile was 102 days old and well within the fledging period (90 – 115 days) but as far as I could ascertain it had not fledged. This means that it had not taken its first flight,” said Candotti.

Condotti returned to the nest on Friday 7 February and discovered that the nest had completely disappeared, but was relieved to find that the juvenile had fledged and was perched on a nearby tree with one of the parents circling above.

According to Shane McPherson, a crowned eagle researcher and MSC student at UKZN, Pietermaritzburg campus, this is a normal phenomenon. “It is not uncommon for nests to deteriorate and collapse partially or completely, as the eagles build the nests out of natural material that deteriorates. We expect that the pair of eagles will rebuild the nest during the breeding season between June and August,” said McPherson.

McPherson also reported that the nest has been primarily stable since 1971 and has been occupied continuously. “In the past 40 years the nest has collapsed and fallen apart a couple of times, and the eagles have always re-built it,” he said.

In normal circumstances the juvenile would remain in the nest after it has fledged. The nest is used as a feeding platform for up to five months after the chick has hatched. “It was fortunate that the chick was old enough to be able to fledge right at the point of collapse,” said McPherson.

McPherson is striving to complete his masters in zoology and has focused his research on the urban ecology of the crowned eagle in the Durban metropolitan area.