CreatureData

Long-crested eagle

Lophaetus occipitalis (Daudin, 1800)

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.07 kg to 1.45 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis)
Photo: D. Gordon E. Robertson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the long-crested eagle

Weight
1.07 kg – 1.45 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.12 m – 1.29 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
42 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
1.4 – 1.53src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the long-crested eagle?

LONG-CRESTED EAGLE · WINGSPAN 1.29 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.29 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the long-crested eagle is about 76% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the long-crested eagle live?

Not recorded

What is the long-crested eagle?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis) is an African bird of prey characterised by its shaggy crest of feathers. In the family Accipitridae which includes all the eagles, it is currently placed in a monotypic genus Lophaetus. It is found throughout mid- and southern Africa, with differing home ranges due to food availability and suitable habitat area, but lives mainly on forest edges and near moist areas. Breeding may occur at any time of year, depending on food availability; it lays 1 or 2 eggs as is usual for raptors. It commonly eats smaller mammals, but will also eat other vertebrates and invertebrates.

From the Wikipedia article “Long-crested eagle” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Long-crested_eagle&oldid=1357344252), 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 long-crested eagle endangered?

The long-crested 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 long-crested eagle classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusLophaetus
  7. SpeciesLophaetus occipitalis (Daudin, 1800)

Synonyms Falco capillamentus, Falco occipitalis, Ictinaetus occipitalis, Spizaetus occipitalis

Other names and names in other languages (40)
  • LCEAEnglish
  • LangkuifarendAfrikaans
  • Erer kuchBreton
  • àguila emplomalladaCatalan
  • orel chocholatýCzech
  • TopørnDanish
  • SchopfadlerGerman
  • longkresta agloEsperanto
  • Águila crestilargaSpanish
  • Águila-azor crestilargaSpanish
  • harikotkasEstonian
  • töyhtökotkaFinnish
  • Aigle huppéFrench
  • Aigle huppardFrench
  • Iolar cíorfhadaIrish
  • kukmasti oraoCroatian
  • bokrétás sasHungarian
  • Aquila crestalungaItalian
  • Aquila dal lungo ciuffoItalian
  • エボシクマタカJapanese
  • kuoduotasis erelisLithuanian
  • FandrasaMalagasy
  • Afrikaanse Zwarte KuifarendDutch
  • toppørnNorwegian
  • orlik długoczubyPolish
  • Wojownik długoczubyPolish
  • Águia-de-poupaPortuguese
  • águia-de-penachoPortuguese
  • Гребенчатый орёлRussian
  • Длиннохохлый орёлRussian
  • orol dlhochochlatýSlovak
  • Afrički ćubasti oraoSerbian
  • tofsörnSwedish
  • afrikansk tofsörnSwedish
  • Sorguçlu KartalTurkish
  • moKuiTswana
  • орел довгочубийUkrainian
  • 長冠鵰Chinese
  • 长冠鹰雕Chinese
  • 高冠鷹鵰Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the long-crested eagle

Other species in the same family Accipitridae.

LC, Least Concern
Black kite (Milvus migrans)

Black kite

Milvus migrans

Accipitridae

CompareLong-crested eagle vs Golden eagleLong-crested eagle vs Eurasian sparrowhawkLong-crested eagle vs Eurasian goshawkLong-crested eagle vs Black kite

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the long-crested eagle?

An adult long-crested eagle weighs 1.07 kg – 1.45 kg and has a wingspan of 1.12 m – 1.29 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the long-crested eagle endangered?

The long-crested 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 long-crested eagle?

The long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis) 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). Long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-crested-eagle

MLA

“Long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-crested-eagle.

BibTeX
@misc{long_crested_eagle_2026,
  title = {Long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-crested-eagle},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}