Crowned eagle

The crowned eagle, also known as the African crowned eagle or the crowned hawk-eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus), is a large bird of prey found in sub-Saharan Africa; in Southern Africa, it is restricted to more easterly areas. Its preferred habitats are principally riparian woodlands and various forests. The crowned eagle is the only extant member of the genus Stephanoaetus. A second species, the Malagasy crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery), went extinct after early humans settled on Madagascar.

Mammals comprise the majority of the eagle's diet. Principal prey species vary throughout its large range, with monkeys, antelopes, rodents, hyraxes, and viverrids all being notable prey groups. Other wild mammals recorded as prey include bushpigs, pangolins, and bats. Birds are also a considerable component of the diet in some populations. In an urban population in Durban, South Africa, camera traps at nest sites revealed that 25% of prey items were birds, of which 17% were hadada ibis juveniles. In Taï, Côte d'Ivoire, trumpeter hornbills comprised 8% of prey. Reptiles and carrion are occasionally consumed. Domesticated cats, dogs, sheep, goats, and chickens are sometimes taken. However, in Durban, South Africa, domesticated animals comprised only 6% of the diet across 11 nests and 836 prey items, of which 3% were chickens. There is at least one credible report of an attack, presumably a case of attempted predation, on a 19.6 kg human child.

Although the crowned eagle's long tail imparts an overall length of up to 90 cm (35 in), it is lighter by weight, and has a considerably shorter wingspan, than Africa's largest eagle, the martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus). It is, nevertheless, considered Africa's most powerful eagle with respect to its prey's body size. It has been known to prey on ungulates as large as bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), which can weigh up to 30 kg (66 lb), albeit usually much less. The crowned eagle possesses unusually large talons and strong legs, and may kill by simply crushing prey's skull. The eagle is also bold and ferocious; records documented from beneath a nest show the remains of a large male sooty mangabey weighing 11 kg (24 lb).

Due to their ecological and behavioral similarities, the crowned eagle is considered to be the African counterpart of the Central and South American harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja). Thanks to its bold and highly conspicuous behavior, it is exceptionally well-studied for a large, forest-dwelling eagle. Due to a relatively high level of habitat adaptability, it was until recently considered to be faring well by the standards of large, forest-dependent raptors. However, today it is generally thought that it is decreasing far more than was previously perceived due to the almost epidemic destruction of native tropical African forest. It is now listed by the IUCN as Near Threatened.

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