Rabbit eagle
| Rabbit eagle | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rabbit eagle ( Hieraaetus morphnoides ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hieraaetus morphnoides | ||||||||||||
| ( Gould , 1841) |
The rabbit eagle ( Hieraaetus morphnoides ), also known as the Australian dwarf eagle , is a type of Bonelli's eagle that occurs in two color morphs in Australia. It is closely related to the spotted eagle and the booted eagle .
The population situation of the rabbit eagle is given as harmless ( least concern ). No subspecies are distinguished.
Appearance
anatomy
_-_Flickr_-_Lip_Kee_(2).jpg)
The rabbit eagle reaches a body length of 45 to 55 centimeters, of which 17 to 25 centimeters are on the tail. The wing measures 32 to 41 centimeters. The beak length is 2.9 to 3.7 centimeters. The males weigh between 440 and 810 grams, while the females weigh between 745 and 1120 grams. Apart from the difference in size, there is no noticeable gender dimorphism .
Bright color morphs
The head and neck are sand-colored to pale red-brown with conspicuous black vertical stripes. These condense to form larger dark spots on the crown of the head and in the neck as well as the sides of the face. The top of the body is dark brown, the individual feathers are lined with pale gray-brown to cream-colored and form conspicuous pale spots on the coat and back. The upper tail-coverts are pale gray-brown to cream-white and form a conspicuous U-shaped body part that stands out from the back and the darker gray-brown tail plumage. The tail plumage is finely banded in dark brown across and has narrow white tips that are no longer visible in the worn plumage.
The underside of the body is individually colored differently. Typical is a sand-colored to light red-brown breast that merges into a white to cream-colored belly. The breast has dark vertical lines. In some individuals these longitudinal lines are red-brown, in others this longitudinal line is almost completely absent and the breast appears almost pure white. The under tail-coverts are silvery white and have numerous darker, fine transverse bands.
Dark color morphs
The upper side of the body is colored like the light color morph, but the head and the underside of the body are monochrome, dark sand-colored to reddish brown or dark brown. The vertex, neck and sides of the face are darker than the rest of the head plumage. The front neck, the chest, the belly and the flanks are darkly dashed lengthways. Females tend to be the darkest feathered individuals with very noticeable longitudinal stripes. The under tail coverts correspond to that of the light colored morphs.
Iris, beak, legs
In both color morphs, the beak is blue-gray with a blackish beak tip. The iris is reddish brown to orange in color. The wax skin, legs and feet are blue-gray to whitish.
Possible confusion
There are several other birds of prey in the range of the rabbit eagle with which it can be confused.
The wedge tail is slightly slimmer than the rabbit eagle and has no straight tail plumage. Young birds and subadult Brahmin harriers still lack the white head plumage that is characteristic of this species and thus show a superficial resemblance to the rabbit eagle. However, they have much wider wings, the tail plumage is shorter and without any noticeable transverse banding. There are also similarities with the black kite , the black-breasted kite and the fox shark .
Distribution area and habitat
The rabbit eagle is a widespread species on mainland Australia. It is only absent in an arid zone in southern Australia. In Tasmania and New Zealand the rabbit eagle is a rare stray visitor .
The rabbit eagles found inland in Australia are usually resident birds . On the other hand, rabbit eagles migrate, which colonize regions near the coast, and in the south-east of Australia there is an increase in populations in the winter months.
The habitat of the rabbit eagle are wooded and open areas. The distribution extends far into arid regions, but it is most common in sparsely forested regions and in regions with a dense mosaic of wooded and unwooded areas. He avoids densely forested regions.
Way of life
The rabbit eagle lives mostly solitary. He hunts mostly in flight. A circling without flapping its wings is typical, the tail plumage is slightly ruffled and the wings are slightly tilted forward. If it discovers prey, it drops in a swoop with folded wings and legs stretched far forward.
Its diet consists mainly of rabbits and other vertebrates of similar size, such as lizards, skinks and various parakeet species. He also eats insects.
Reproduction
In the Australian states of New South Wals, Victoria and South Australia the rabbit eagle breeds in the period from August to October, in the more northerly areas of its range the breeding season falls in the months of April to September.
It breeds in sparse forest areas and the Australian Mallee and avoids isolated tall trees. The nest is a platform made of branches and twigs, usually two to three inches in diameter. The height is 30 to 35 centimeters. The clutch usually comprises two eggs, less often one or three eggs. Both parent birds breed. The breeding season is 33 to 41 days. The nestling period is long. Only after six to seven weeks have the nestlings completely lost their downy plumage. They are fully fledged at around 9.5 weeks.
literature
- Bruce M. Beehler, Thane K. Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3 .
- J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2001, ISBN 0-7136-8026-1 .
- PJ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds , Volume 2, Raptors to Lapwings, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 0-19-553069-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c little-eagle-hieraaetus-morphnoides Handbook of the Birds of the World zum Kandinchenadler accessed on June 3, 2017.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 191.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 180.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 181.
- ↑ a b Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 183.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 187.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 188.