CreatureData

African hawk-eagle

Aquila spilogaster (Bonaparte, 1850)

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.32 kg to 1.63 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster)
Photo: Chris Eason · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the African hawk-eagle

Weight
1.32 kg – 1.63 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.32 m – 1.5 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
43 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
3.98 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the African hawk-eagle?

AFRICAN HAWK-EAGLE · WINGSPAN 1.5 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.5 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the African hawk-eagle is close to the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the African hawk-eagle live?

Not recorded

What is the African hawk-eagle?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. This species' feathered legs mark it as a member of the Aquilinae subfamily. The African hawk-eagle breeds in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a bird of assorted woodland, including both savanna and hilly areas, but they tend to occur in woodland that is typically dry. The species tends to be rare in areas where their preferred habitat type is absent. This species builds a stick nest of around 1 m (3.3 ft) across in a large tree. The clutch is generally one or two eggs. The African hawk-eagle is powerfully built and hunts small to medium-sized mammals and birds predominantly, occasionally taking reptiles and other prey as well. The call is a shrill kluu-kluu-kluu. The African hawk-eagle is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, but a study in 2024 showed that this species is experiencing a severe population decline of ~91%, suggesting it be listed as critically endangered.

From the Wikipedia article “African hawk-eagle” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_hawk-eagle&oldid=1362501781), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the African hawk-eagle endangered?

The African hawk-eagle is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the African hawk-eagle classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusAquila
  7. SpeciesAquila spilogaster (Bonaparte, 1850)

Synonyms Hieraaetus fasciatus minor, Hieraaëtus fasciatus spilogaster, Hieraaetus spilogaster, Spizaetus spilogaster

Other names and names in other languages (47)
  • African hawk eagleEnglish
  • African hawk eagleEnglish
  • AHEAEnglish
  • GrootjagarendAfrikaans
  • Afrikaanse JagarendAfrikaans
  • Grootjagarend (Afrikaanse Jagarend)Afrikaans
  • Orkori3Akan
  • عقاب بازية إفريقيةArabic
  • àguila emmantelladaCatalan
  • orel savanovýCzech
  • gwalcheryr AffricaWelsh
  • Afrikansk HøgeørnDanish
  • AkazienadlerGerman
  • Afrikanischer HabichtsadlerGerman
  • stria agloEsperanto
  • Águila africanaSpanish
  • Águila azor africanaSpanish
  • Águila estriadaSpanish
  • aafrika haugaskotkasEstonian
  • afrikanvuorikotkaFinnish
  • Aigle fasciéFrench
  • Seabhac-iolar AfracachIrish
  • עיט ניצי אפריקניHebrew
  • bjelotrbi oraoCroatian
  • afrikai héjasasHungarian
  • Aquilastore africanoItalian
  • Aquila minore africanaItalian
  • モモジロクマタカJapanese
  • 아프리카뿔매Korean
  • baltapilvis sakalinis erelisLithuanian
  • Afrikaanse HavikarendDutch
  • afrikahaukørnNorwegian
  • orzeł plamistyPolish
  • Orzełek afrykańskiPolish
  • águia-dominóPortuguese
  • Африканский орёлRussian
  • Африканский ястребиный орёлRussian
  • Африканский орел-ястребRussian
  • orol škvrnitoprsýSlovak
  • Afrički jastrebasti oraoSerbian
  • afrikansk hökörnSwedish
  • Afrika Atmaca KartalıTurkish
  • nTsuTswana
  • орел африканськийUkrainian
  • орел-карлик африканськийUkrainian
  • 非洲隼雕Chinese
  • 非洲鷹鵰Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the African hawk-eagle

Other species in the same genus Aquila.

CompareAfrican hawk-eagle vs Golden eagleAfrican hawk-eagle vs Steppe eagleAfrican hawk-eagle vs Eastern imperial eagleAfrican hawk-eagle vs Bonelli's eagle

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the African hawk-eagle?

An adult African hawk-eagle weighs 1.32 kg – 1.63 kg and has a wingspan of 1.32 m – 1.5 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the African hawk-eagle endangered?

The African hawk-eagle is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the African hawk-eagle?

The African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-hawk-eagle

MLA

“African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-hawk-eagle.

BibTeX
@misc{african_hawk_eagle_2026,
  title = {African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-hawk-eagle},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}