Bird of the Week – Longcrested eagle

THE usually solitary longcrested eagle perches conspicuously on trees and telephone poles in our region.

It flies frequently from perch to perch with shallow wingbeats.

Its voice is a high-pitched ‘kik kik kik’ or a screaming ‘keeee-eh’ and it often calls in flight. The longcrested eagle feeds on rodents and shrews, some birds, arthropods and reptiles, which are swallowed whole.

Two chicks normally hatch and stay in the nest for about 55 days, fed by their mother but their father brings food to the nest.

The young are dependant on their parents for 100 to 120 days after their first flight.

This bird’s Zulu name is iPhungumangathi.