Bateleur

(Terathopius ecaudatus)


Facts

Bateleur IUCN NEAR THREATENED (NT)

 

Facts about this animal

The adult Bateleur has a black belly, head, neck, and wing plumage, while their backs are red-brown. The adults facial skin, bill and legs are bright red, eyes and tip of the beak are black. The secondaries flight feathers are ashy gray with black tips, while the under wing-coverts and secondaries beneath are white. Feathers extend down to the toes. It has relatively long and pointed wings and and a very short tail. Males are often smaller than the females.


Immature eagles are brown, and it takes them up to their 8th year to turn into their adult plumage colour. The Bateleur is an excellent flyer and spends most of the day in flight, soaring, covering often a huge area in its search for prey. It shows spectacular aerial displays, especially during attacking prey or in courtship displays.

Did you know?
That the Bateleur eagles are among a group of raptors that secrete a clear, salty fluid from their nares whilst eating? this is due to the general necessity for birds to use an extrarenal mechanism of salt secretion to aid water reabsorption.


 

Factsheet
Class AVES
Order FALCONIFORMES
Suborder ACCIPITRES
Family ACCIPITRIDAE
Name (Scientific) Terathopius ecaudatus
Name (English) Bateleur
Name (French) Bateleur
Name (German) Gaukler
Name (Spanish) Águila volatinera
CITES Status Appendix. II

 

 

Photo Copyright by
Valerie Abbott

Distribution

 


Distribution
Range Throughout Africa south of the Sahara
Habitat savannah, open woodland, plains and open mountain districts
Wild population Unknown. Populalations are declining in some regions (Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, parts of Zambia, Zimbabwe), but in other regions it remains widespread.
Zoo population 84 reported to ISIS (2008)

In the Zoo

Bateleur

 

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Photo Copyright by
Cyrusbulsara