Long-crested Eagle ( Lophaetus occipitalis, family: Accipitridae)

long crested eagle kruger national park birds The Long-crested Eagle (Latin name Lophaetus occipitalis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 139 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 539 also a picture of the Long-crested Eagle on page 496. The Long-crested Eagle belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Long-crested Eagle is also known by these other names: Long-crested Hawk-Eagle.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Long-crested Eagle is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Long-crested Eagle in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Long-crested Eagle : see above distribution map.

Longcrested Eagle Kruger National Park BirdsIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Long-crested Eagle is a largish bird about the same size as a Pied Crow. The height of the Long-crested Eagle is about 58 cms and its weight is about 1200 gms

The male and female Long-crested Eagle have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is purple.
  • Eye is yellow.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is purple.
  • Back is purple, black.
  • Legs are brown.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Long-crested Eagle feeds on the ground mainly

Reptiles

Other Birds

Smaller animals

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Long-crested Eagle is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Lophaetus occipitalis will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Long-crested Eagle is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 1 to 2

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Long-crested Eagle are: woodlands and grasslands . The Long-crested Eagle is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You will normally see the Long-crested Eagle by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Isiphungu-phungu/Uphungu-phungu

Zulu ... isiPhungumangathi

Afrikaans ...Langkuifarend

German ... Schopfadler

Portuguese ... guia-de-penacho

French ... Aigle huppard

Dutch ... Afrikaanse Zwarte Kuifarend

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 139

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za