Eagles on my mind
14 Sep 2014 8:33 PM GMT
Eagles are, by far, the most impressive and spectacular of all. The way each species in assembled is a tribute to simple efficiency.
In Africa, they also target every prey size, and morphed into a perfect array of designs to do so: from the diminutive and secretive Ayre’s Hawk Eagle that specialises in dashing flights through the forest canopy whilst chasing its avian prey, to the formidable Martial Eagle that can bring down a full-grown Gazelle just as effectively as a Leopard can. There’s even a big eagle, the Steppe Eagle that travels 5,000 miles from the Russian Steppes to gorge at Termite emergences in our Rift Valley.
There’s different species whose role is to patrol every desert, lake, forest, plain or coast. It seems that there’s easily caught food for them in every conceivable situation. The Verreauxs’ Eagle has evolved to spend almost 100 per cent of its life on a decent cliff-face, where it has specialised in hunting Hyrax, the closest living relative to the Elephant; just like the Snake Eagle family, that feeds almost exclusively on...snakes; and the Fish Eagle a bird so specialised that it can only really be found near permanent water, even on the coast.
They are also remarkably important: as top predators, they define the ecosystems they live in. As they are long-lived, slow growing and reproduce very slowly, their densities, and fluctuations in these densities, indicate the health of an environment. This makes them a very useful tool for conservationists to study, and in a time where the juggernaut of human development and expansion seems to be accelerating, they are tools that need to be used. Explosions in human populations result in severe problems for these birds. The larger ones are intentionally killed, as they are viewed as threats to livestock, sometimes even children.
The species that deign to scavenge are poisoned as they feed of tainted carcasses as a farmer intends to eradicate the local hyaenas and lions. Their nest trees are felled for firewood, and when they use pylons as substitutes, their reward for ingenuity is electrocution. Chemicals contaminate their food, thinning their eggshells. When they migrate they are shot at. Swathes of productive grassland are put under construction. Lakes are polluted. Seas are overfished. According to recent and ongoing studies, raptor densities outside protected areas (national parks and conservancies) are down to a third of what they are within them.
As threatened as they may be, the best place to get to know these birds is definitely in one of the
great Tsavo national parks in Kenya, and one of this humble author’s favourite places. The sheer abundance of small reptiles and rodents, snakes and antelopes, makes this place a heaven for predatory birds.
The primary forest of the Aberdares, just further north, allows you to get a glimpse of the unchanged lives these birds have lead for million of years: they really are dinosaurs, and had mastered life before we even thought of showing up. Allow me to furnish you with an anecdote to add lustre to this point. Whilst driving through absolutely pristine grassland one afternoon, the car accidentally flushed a hare from cover. I mentioned to my brother, that this little guy is risking it all being out at this time of the day. Within 15 seconds of uttering this, a Martial Eagle plummeted from the sky, and whacked the scampering mammal. The bird was four kilos tops, the hare up to six. It was over in an instant. So, next time you plan on heading to Africa, come and take a look at our Eagles: a triumph of style, and engineering.
Email: srkapila@gmail.com
In Africa, they also target every prey size, and morphed into a perfect array of designs to do so: from the diminutive and secretive Ayre’s Hawk Eagle that specialises in dashing flights through the forest canopy whilst chasing its avian prey, to the formidable Martial Eagle that can bring down a full-grown Gazelle just as effectively as a Leopard can. There’s even a big eagle, the Steppe Eagle that travels 5,000 miles from the Russian Steppes to gorge at Termite emergences in our Rift Valley.
There’s different species whose role is to patrol every desert, lake, forest, plain or coast. It seems that there’s easily caught food for them in every conceivable situation. The Verreauxs’ Eagle has evolved to spend almost 100 per cent of its life on a decent cliff-face, where it has specialised in hunting Hyrax, the closest living relative to the Elephant; just like the Snake Eagle family, that feeds almost exclusively on...snakes; and the Fish Eagle a bird so specialised that it can only really be found near permanent water, even on the coast.
They are also remarkably important: as top predators, they define the ecosystems they live in. As they are long-lived, slow growing and reproduce very slowly, their densities, and fluctuations in these densities, indicate the health of an environment. This makes them a very useful tool for conservationists to study, and in a time where the juggernaut of human development and expansion seems to be accelerating, they are tools that need to be used. Explosions in human populations result in severe problems for these birds. The larger ones are intentionally killed, as they are viewed as threats to livestock, sometimes even children.
The species that deign to scavenge are poisoned as they feed of tainted carcasses as a farmer intends to eradicate the local hyaenas and lions. Their nest trees are felled for firewood, and when they use pylons as substitutes, their reward for ingenuity is electrocution. Chemicals contaminate their food, thinning their eggshells. When they migrate they are shot at. Swathes of productive grassland are put under construction. Lakes are polluted. Seas are overfished. According to recent and ongoing studies, raptor densities outside protected areas (national parks and conservancies) are down to a third of what they are within them.
As threatened as they may be, the best place to get to know these birds is definitely in one of the
great Tsavo national parks in Kenya, and one of this humble author’s favourite places. The sheer abundance of small reptiles and rodents, snakes and antelopes, makes this place a heaven for predatory birds.
The primary forest of the Aberdares, just further north, allows you to get a glimpse of the unchanged lives these birds have lead for million of years: they really are dinosaurs, and had mastered life before we even thought of showing up. Allow me to furnish you with an anecdote to add lustre to this point. Whilst driving through absolutely pristine grassland one afternoon, the car accidentally flushed a hare from cover. I mentioned to my brother, that this little guy is risking it all being out at this time of the day. Within 15 seconds of uttering this, a Martial Eagle plummeted from the sky, and whacked the scampering mammal. The bird was four kilos tops, the hare up to six. It was over in an instant. So, next time you plan on heading to Africa, come and take a look at our Eagles: a triumph of style, and engineering.
Email: srkapila@gmail.com
Next Story
