The Martial Eagle, A Scary-Looking Bird That Can Knock You Off Your Feet
Wikimedia CommonsAn immature martial eagle at Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Soaring over the savannas and thorn bush areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, you’ll find the martial eagle. The largest and most powerful of its African counterparts, the martial eagle can reach nearly 14 pounds — and can knock an adult man off his feet with ease.
Capable of reaching 32 inches long, these aerial predators generally grow a wingspan of 6 feet and 4 inches. While their white belly and dark brown plumage can be entrancing to behold, one look at their enormous talons will remind you not to get too close.
To make this even clearer, martial eagles have so much power in one of their feet that their grip can break a man’s arm. Fortunately for us, this dominant bird of prey prefers to feast on guineafowl, francolins, bustards, and chickens — though they can take down birds as big as the European stork.
Martial eagles inhabiting other areas like semi-deserts have also been observed opting to hunt mammals. While hyrax and antelopes are most common, their meals have also included animals as large as impala, goats, lambs, mongoose, and even monkeys.
As for their breeding habits, these birds construct resilient nests in the treetops at heights between 20 and 80 feet above the ground. Just like the Griffon vulture, martial eagles choose steep cliff sides or gorges to prevent any nesting interference.
Unlike Griffon vultures, however, these nests are enormous — at four to six feet across and up to four feet thick. It's been documented that a nest can be used for generations to come by entirely unrelated martial eagles. Similar to marabou, these nests are made of sticks and lined with green leaves.
Breeding season has no definitive start date, while it's clear that incubation is taken care of by the female. Furthermore, the female has to leave its nest to forage for food rather than the male returning to help out. After 45 days, the youngling hatches — and grows its full plumage 70 days later.
Fortunately for the mother and its young, the male does begin to provide food during 50 days of the fledgling season. After about 100 days on Earth, the young martial eagle takes flight for the very first time. It doesn't take long for this scary bird to become a huge, soaring threat.
With a home range of up to 50 miles, these birds will spend hours soaring on updrafts without catching a single thing. It's been estimated that around 85 percent of their time is spent perched, with sporadic aerial ambushes dotting the day.
Fortunately, these birds typically keep away from people — another reminder of how fortunate our species is that these birds aren't a few feet larger.
From the Griffon vulture and Dracula parrot to the poisonous hooded pitohui and martial eagle — our spot on the food chain merely makes these birds scary, rather than an existential threat from which there's no escape.
After learning about nine of the scariest birds on the planet, read about seven scary insects that will give you nightmares. Next, take a look at these five terrible, scary, brilliant and weird parasites.
