Magnificent hooded eagle
| Magnificent hooded eagle | ||||||||||||
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Subadult Magnificent Hooded Eagle |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Spizaetus ornatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Daudin , 1800) |
The splendor Hawk-Eagle ( Spizaetus ornatus ), also superb eagle called, is a occurring in Central and South America bird of prey from the family of Accipitridae (Accipitridae).
The IUCN specifies that the magnificent hooded eagle is not at risk ( least concern ). There are two subspecies.
Appearance
Body measurements
The magnificent hooded eagle reaches a body length of 58 to 67 centimeters, of which 24.4 to 26.8 centimeters is accounted for by the tail plumage in the male and 26.6 to 29 centimeters in the female. The wings have a length of 31.2 to 36 centimeters in the males, in the females from 35.3 to 38.8 centimeters. The wingspan is 105 to 120 centimeters. The weight of the males is between 906 and 1132 grams, the females weigh between 1200 and 1632 grams. The eyes of adult birds are greenish yellow to yellow. The beak and the wax skin are gray. The legs and feet are yellow in both sexes. Aside from the size difference, there is no noticeable gender dimorphism .
Adult hooded eagles
Adult bonnet eagles have a black bonnet and a reddish brown face veil . The coat is blackish and the back and wings are brown. The tail covers are brown with white feather tips and there are three brown-gray transverse bands on the black tail plumage.
The throat is white, the white spot extends to the middle of the chest. There is a black streak of beard on the face and the sides of the chest are reddish brown. The belly, on the other hand, is cross-banded in black and white.
Fledglings
Young birds are predominantly dark brown on the upper side of the body, from which the white head stands out strongly. The top is dashed in black, the hood has black feather tips. The black tail plumage has wider white tips than that of the adult birds, is whitish on the underside and has five narrow gray transverse bands on the upper side. The underside of the body is predominantly white with some black transverse bands on the flanks and thighs.
Distribution area and subspecies
A distinction is made between two subspecies that occur in the following regions:
- S. o. Vicarius Friedmann , 1935 - southern Mexico, where it is most common in southern eastern Mexico, as well as in Central America to the west of Colombia and Ecuador and the extreme northwest of Peru.
- S. o. Ornatus ( Daudin , 1800) - The nominate form occurs from eastern Colombia to Venezuela, Trinidad and Guyana. In a southerly direction, the distribution area extends over the east of Ecuador, the east of Peru, Bolivia and the northwest and northeast of Argentina.
habitat
The habitat of the great hooded eagle are high tropical and subtropical rainforests in the lowlands and foothills. In some regions it occurs on the edges of forests, on forests along rivers and it also colonizes gallery forests and occasionally even low-growth forests in wetlands. More common than the hooded eagle , it occurs in large, contiguous primary forests.
Way of life
The magnificent hooded eagle lives solitary or in pairs. They can often be seen in the morning when they are circling high up in the air. Loud whistling can often be heard when the magnificent hooded eagles fly lower.
Birds and mammals make up their diet. They also eat snakes and large lizards. The species of birds they beat weigh between 160 grams and 3.8 kilograms. The prey animals include blue herons , hokkos , toothed quails , toucans , pigeons and parrots. The mammals of their prey spectrum include various squirrels , rats, agoutis and small bears such as the coiled bear . They prefer to hunt in the forest by ambushing prey from raised hides.
Reproduction
The breeding season falls in Central America from December to September and in Brazil from August to January. Ferguson-Lees, et al. assume that the breeding season is oriented in such a way that the eggs are laid in the dry season, but the nestlings fledge at the beginning of the rainy season.
The nest is located high up on tall trees and is very large with a diameter of up to 1.25 meters and a height of 50 centimeters and more. The built-in nesting material, which consists of branches with a diameter of up to 10 centimeters, corresponds, according to some estimates, to 1.5 cubic meters. The inside of the nest is covered with green leaves. The clutch consists of one, more rarely two eggs. The breeding season is about 48 days. The nestlings fledge 69 to 93 days after hatching. However, they stay close to the nest for up to 12 months and are still dependent on the parent birds during this time.
literature
- J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2001, ISBN 0-7136-8026-1 .
