Bat Hawk ( Macheiramphus alcinus, family: Accipitridae)

bat hawk kruger national park birds The Bat Hawk (Latin name Macheiramphus alcinus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 129 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 447 also a picture of the Bat Hawk on page 480. The Bat Hawk belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Bat Hawk is also known by these other names: Bat-eating Buzzard.

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 Bat Hawk is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Bat Hawk in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Bat Hawk : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Bat Hawk is a bird about the size of a Francolin now called Spurfowl. The height of the Bat Hawk is about 45 cms and its weight is about 600 gms

The male and female Bat Hawk have the same plumage and colours

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

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Bat Hawk feeds on the ground mainly

Smaller animals

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Bat Hawk is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Macheiramphus alcinus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Bat Hawk is to lay eggs which are blue, white in colour and number between 1 to 2

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Bat Hawk are: woodlands and grasslands and riverine areas

You will normally see the Bat Hawk by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Vlermuisvalk

German ... Fledermausaar

Portuguese ... Gavio-morcegueiro

French ... Milan des chauves-souris

Dutch ... Vleermuiswouw

First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 129

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