Booted Eagle

Booted Eagle

Scientific Name: Hieraaetus pennatus                                         Afrikaans Name:Dwergarend

These tiny eagles occur in two different colour forms (pale and dark) and are named after their thick feather leggings. They hunt from the air mainly birds up to the size of francolin, but even a few rodents and lizards. They have distinctive white ‘landing light’ markings on their shoulders and when diving after prey their body position becomes heart shaped, with wing tips touching and the leading bend of the wing held apart from the body. They breed on cliff faces, often where a tree grows out of a crack in the rock. Some booted eagles breed in southern Africa while another population breeds in Eurasia and North Africa and migrate here in summer.

There are two non-releaseable Booted Eagles resident at the Sanctuary. Both have wing injuries and were transferred from ‘Eagle Encounters’ in the Western Cape where they are found far more commonly than in KZN. They are our smallest African eagle and get their name from their thick leg feathers.