Madagascan Fish Eagle

Madagascar Eagle ( Haliaeetus vociferoides )

The Madagascar Eagle ( Haliaeetus vociferoides ) is a bird of prey in the genus of eagles. Its distribution is limited to the northwest of the island of Madagascar. He is one of the rarest birds of prey in the world.

Features

The Madagascar Eagle reaches a size of 60-66 centimeters. The wingspan is 165 to 180 inches, and the tail length of 23 to 30 centimeters. The males can weigh 2.2 to 2.6 kilograms. The 18 percent larger females weigh 2.8 to 3.5 kilograms.

The adult birds are vertex, neck and throat greyish white with a rich, reddish brown and dashes. The cheeks are white. The tail is white with thin black stems. The plumage is mainly dark brown. Mantle, breast and wings show variable reddish stripes. In Flight Image of the habitus is dark with a whitish head and a white tail. The under wing-coverts are dark brown. The wings are dark gray with bright primaries bases. The eyes are brown. The cere and legs are whitish.

The young birds of Madagascar Eagle are lighter brown in color than the young birds of the African Fish Eagle. The top is evenly dashed whitish. The underside is mottled light brown to whitish. The throat is rusty brown. The blackish wings and tail show whitish gray brown hems.

Vocalizations

The reputation of Madagascar Eagle is very loud with bright, flashy and pretty seagulls similar sounding ko -ko - koy - koy - koy - koy - koy - tones, sometimes reminiscent of the African Fish Eagle. He can be heard in general on the seat waiting and rarely during the flight. As the fish eagle lays the Madagascar sea eagles his head when calling far in the neck. From this property and the specific epithet vociferoides is derived which is Vocifer from the Neo-Latin syllables, Artepithon of the Fish Eagle ' and oides, similar, same ' composed.

Habitat

The Madagascar Eagle is mainly coastal residents. It inhabits rocky islands, cliffs, mangrove swamps with large trees, umwaldete lakes, wide channels and wooded estuaries of large rivers, and bays that are adjacent to mangrove forests. It usually occurs in sea-level. Young birds may migrate at altitudes of 1200 meters.

Food and foraging behavior

The Madagascar sea eagles preferred stalking. After a short flight from the seat vantage point, he dives into the water and grabs the prey with its claws. Its diet consists mainly of fish. Crabs enrich the food supply, but also carrion is not spurned. The fish are captured at the water surface or in shallow water. Sometimes they also rob the fish out of the traps of the fishermen. There are occasional reports of fish also prey attacks on African spoonbill and Madagascar heron were unsuccessful, however.

Reproduction

The breeding season is from June to December. The substantial Horst can reach a diameter of up to 120 centimeters probably. It is built of sticks and twigs usually high up in mangroves or in forest trees on the banks. A found Horst was located on an island cliff in six to eight meters in height. The nest usually consists of two eggs. However, it is raised only a cub. Incubation period is about 41 days. The young birds fledge after about 120 days.

Hiking

The adult birds are site- faithful. However, the young birds go hiking up to 200 kilometers. The hiking routes extend mostly south of the birth areas and stretch north from rare. According to earlier reports of the Madagascar sea eagle to have been seen also in Mauritius.

Inventory and risk

In the 19th century the Madagascar sea eagle was still considered a generally common. He was widespread and occurred in considerable quantities. 1930 were collected eight specimens within a radius of one kilometer to the north-west coast opposite the island of Nosy Be. In June 1970 eight copies were observed in the coastal areas of Antsalova and Bekopaka and on Manambolo River. While search expeditions in the period from 1978 to 1986, the ornithologist Olivier Langrand discovered 40 breeding pairs and ten individual adult birds. A survey conducted by the Peregrine Fund counting action a total population of 222 adult birds was found between 1991 and 1995 to 105 localities. 99 pairs were breeding readiness. In 2006 observed members of the Peregrine Fund in Manambolomaty Lakes complex eight to eleven pairs during breeding, in which five young birds were reared. 2007 bred in this region twelve pairs. 2008 27 nests were counted in Antsalova district.

The main causes of threat to habitat destruction and predation by humans apply. Deforestation, soil erosion and the conversion of wetlands into rice terraces have led to the loss of breeding and hunting habitats. The hunt is responsible for the sharp decline of Madagascar Eagle. For the fishermen, he is a competitor. Shoot down the adult birds and pick up the nestlings from the nests. The meat or other parts of the Eagle are to be eaten or used in traditional medicine. On top of that, the eagle caught in fishing nets and the breeding sites are disturbed by human activities. Another cause is water pollution because the pollutants accumulate in the tissues of fish and thus enter the food chain. This means that the Eagle lay infertile eggs.