Tag Archives: African Fish Eagle

Fish Eagle caught in the act

The call of the African Fish Eagle is so evocative of Africa’s wild places, and seeing one is always a special treat, high on the wish-list of many safari-goers. Especially when you get the chance to see it in action; gracefully descending with claws outstretched to snatch a fish from just below the water’s surface and then majestically soaring away with its prize grasped in its talons. The stuff nature documentaries are made of.

During our mid-August trip to the Kruger National Park, Joubert and I were lucky to see a Fish Eagle catch a sharp-tooth catfish from the waters of the Sabie River just downstream from Lower Sabie Rest Camp. While this particular individual won’t score a perfect ten for the execution – that splash-down would have had the Olympic audience snickering, and thank goodness for that sandbank! – it nevertheless was an amazing sighting. Most of these photographs were taken by Joubert.

African Fish Eagle fly-past (photo by Joubert)

The prey has been spotted (photo by Joubert)

Homing in on the target… (photo by Joubert)

Getting into position… (photo by Joubert)

Strike imminent… (photo by Joubert)

(Wet) success! (photo by Joubert)

Is it the Eagle or the catfish splashing..? (photo by Joubert)

Heading for the sandbank

Heading for the sandbank (photo by Joubert)

Fish Eagle with catfish prey

Fish Eagle with catfish prey (photo by Joubert)

Now with its composure regained, the Fish Eagle sets off for a favourite perch

Now with its composure regained, the Fish Eagle sets off for a favourite perch (photo by Joubert)

Hali the Fish Eagle

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Hali is an African Fish Eagle that calls the Dullstroom Bird of Prey and Rehabilitation Centre home. She’s a majestic creature, and regularly and proudly announces her presence with that beautiful call that is so quintessential of Africa’s wild places. Hali is unfortunately hopelessly imprinted on humans and cannot be released back into the wild. This notwithstanding, she’s as adept as any wild Fish Eagle at snatching her food from the water.

Hali the Fish Eagle

Hali the Fish Eagle (photo by Joubert)

Hali the Fish Eagle

Hali the Fish Eagle (photo by Joubert)

Hali the Fish Eagle

Hali the Fish Eagle (photo by Joubert)

As a registered NGO receiving no government support, the Dullstroom Bird of Prey and Rehabilitation Centre relies heavily on donors, sponsors and the visiting public to fund their very important work. Their tiny staff compliment is responsible for the rehabilitation of between 80 and 200 birds of prey every year, all of them injured by or negatively impacted in another way by humans, and then releasing them back into the wild when they’ve recovered sufficiently. If you can’t visit them in person, please visit their website and, if you are able to, assist them in their efforts by making a donation (monetary or in kind).

African Fish Eagle

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Haliaeetus vocifer

If there is one sound that is symbolic of Africa’s waterways, it must be the call of the African Fish Eagle. It is the national bird of several African countries, and the South African presidential jet carries its Zulu name Inkwazi. They occur over almost all of Sub-Saharan Africa in close association with rivers, lakes, dams, swamps, estuaries and lagoons. As can be deduced from their name, African Fish Eagles subsist mainly on a diet of fish (weighing up to 2kg) snatched from the water in flight, though they will also catch baby crocodiles, terrapins, small mammals and other birds (up to the size of flamingos), scavenge the catches of other waterbirds like storks and herons and feed on carrion. Adults can weigh over 3kg and have a wingspan of almost 2.5m.

African Fish Eagle pairs are monogamous, pair for life and maintain their territories year-round, nesting in tall trees or on cliffs near water. Their nests are large, built of twigs and reeds. In South Africa the breeding season coincides with the drier months of the year, when fish are easier to catch in dwindling pools. Clutches contain up to three eggs, and are incubated mostly by the female for about 6 weeks. The parent birds are usually successful in raising all their chicks to fledging at about two-and-a-half months of age, whereafter the young stay with their parents for another three months or so. Newly independent juveniles often congregate in flocks that can number as many as 75 birds. African Fish Eagles have a life expectancy of up to 24 years in the wild.

The IUCN lists the African Fish Eagle as being of Least Concern, siting its large, stable population estimated at about 300,000, wide distribution and no real threat from humans. They can be found in all South Africa’s provinces – even penetrating the arid west along the course of the Orange River and its tributaries.