About Martial Eagles

Martial Eagle - Outside of Aus in Namibia

Common names: Martial Eagle, Breëkoparend

Scientific name: Polemaetus bellicosus– war like eagle 

Martial Eagle Distribution

The Martial Eaglehas an extensive range across much of sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal and the Nambia east to Ethiopia and north-west to Somalia and south to Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. It is generally scarce to uncommon or rare, but is reasonably common in some areas (Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001). It is suspected to have undergone a declines in much of its range, including Namibia (C. Brown in litt. 2009), Nigeria (P. Hall in litt. 2009) and South Africa (Underhill 2012).

Marital Eagles are currently experiencing a national decline according to South African Bird Atlas data (SABAP) (Underhill 2012). Martial Eagles have declined nationally in reporting rate by nearly 60%. The declines have been the most severe in areas with a high density of distribution power lines suggesting that collisions or electrocutions may be important.

Declines in natural grassland areas with stock farming could be associated with direct and indirect human persecution. National Parks, especially Kruger and Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, which were considered strongholds for the Martial Eagle in South Africa, have experienced declines of up to 42%. The comparison of the SABAP1 and SABAP2 data has highlighted this decline, however this data should be verified. Rowen van Eeden is investigating the decline within Kruger National Park while the Electric Martial Eagle Project is investigating the decline in the Karoo Martial Eagle population.

Figure 2: South African Bird Atlas Project SABAP Comparison map between the first and second bird atlas projects for the Martial Eagle. The first bird atlas SABAP1, took place in the early 1990s; SABAP2 started 2007. Each square is a quarter degree grid cell (QDGC). The top and bottom numbers in each cell are the reporting rates for the QDGC respectively. The reporting rate is a measure of abundance. In red cells, Martial Eagles were recorded in SABAP1 but not in SABAP2. In orange cells the reporting rate has decreased. In yellow cells, reporting rates are identical. In green cells reporting rates have increased. Blue cells indicate where Martial Eagles were not recorded in SABAP1 but have in SABAP2 (this is most frequently likely to be due to poor coverage in SABAP1 rather than to genuine increases in range). In pink cells, the species was recorded in SABAP1, but have not yet been visited in SABAP2.

Martial Eagle behaviour

Martial Eagles spend most of their day soaring and can sometimes be spotted perching on high tension pylons and utility poles. At night the eagles roost on trees, pylons or poles, usually singly but sometimes in pairs. The same roosting site may be use on successive nights.

 Photo by The Black Eagle Project

 

Martial Eagles nest in the tallest trees in their vicinity (this may be a reason for the preference of pylons in largely tree-less environments). Nests are usually positioned in the large fork of Acacia trees or Blue gum trees. Breeding territories tend to range from 100 –1 000 km² making the Martial Eagles a difficult species to study.