The Black Eagle pair at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens had a normal breeding season and the first chick hatched on 13 June, after a 44-day incubation period.
“It appeared to be a healthy normal youngster and the second chick hatched four days later on 17 June – also after a 44-day incubation period,” said chairman of the Black Eagle Project, Gerald Draper.
He explained that Black Eagles always lay their two eggs four days apart, and the second egg is “insurance” against the first egg being infertile. Cainism – where the stronger chick kills the weaker one – has already taken place and the remaining chick is expected to fledge mid September.
The Black Eagle Project consists of a group of dedicated volunteers who continuously monitor the situation at the gardens.
One of the volunteers and Honeydew resident Boudewyn van der Lecq said he had been involved with the Black Eagles from a very young age.
“The one chick left is [now] two weeks old and will spend three months on the nest before fledging in September,” said Van der Lecq.
Another volunteer from Little Falls, Dennis Dry said the nest site of the Black Eagles has been there for many years. “They do not nest anywhere else and the gardens are a suitable place for them to breed,” said Dry.
Draper added that “Black Eagles have been nesting in these gardens since the 1930s and are continuously under threat from spreading urbanisation which is destroying their natural prey habitat. This particular pair is forced to fly great distances to find prey, and have modified their diet to include guinea fowl, francolin, mongoose, rock rabbit, dassies when available, and in 2013 actually brought two tortoises to the nest,” said Draper.
