African Crowned Eagle ( Stephanoaetus coronatus, family: Accipitridae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Crowned Eagle

African crowned eagle kruger national park birds.gif The African Crowned Eagle (Latin name Stephanoaetus coronatus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 141 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 541 also a picture of the African Crowned Eagle on page 497. The African Crowned Eagle belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the African Crowned Eagle was called the Crowned 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 African Crowned Eagle is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

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

Identification 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 African Crowned Eagle is a large bird much bigger than a Pied Crow. The height of the African Crowned Eagle is about 90 cms and its weight is about 1500 gms

You will find that the male African Crowned Eagle plumage and colours are different to that of the female African Crowned Eagle

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

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The African Crowned Eagle feeds on the ground mainly and also at night.

Reptiles

Other Birds

Smaller animals

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The African Crowned Eagle is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Stephanoaetus coronatus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of African Crowned 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 African Crowned Eagle are: woodlands

You will normally see the African Crowned Eagle by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Ukhozi

Zulu ... isiHuhwa

Afrikaans ...Kroonarend

German ... Kronenadler

Portuguese ... guia-coroada

French ... Aigle couronn

Dutch ... Kroonarend

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 ... 141

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