Nature’s calling: Ayres’s hawk-eagle

I am no birder, however, I really enjoy seeing any bird of prey, especially if it is a super rare bird for our area.

While in my garden on Sunday, 28 June, I took note of a bird of prey that kept trying to catch the doves in my neighbours tree. At first glance I thought it was just black sparrow hawk again, but I noticed their flight was a bit different. Where the sparrow hawks immediately go perch in a tree, this one would rather glide like an eagle.

I grabbed my camera from inside and continued to observe the bird and much to my delight one bird became two. I managed to get nice photos while they soared overhead. I sent these pictures to my friend and well-known birder, Trevor Hardaker, for identification. They were identified as juvenile Ayres’s hawk-eagles, a very rare sighting for the Durban area.

The Ayres’s hawk-eagle is named after South African ornithologist, Thomas Ayres. They are a medium sized eagle, just a little bigger than the black sparrow hawk. Their primary diet is doves and pigeons, which are usually caught in mid-air. This explains the behaviour I witnessed of them diving at the tree after the doves. These eagles are not well-known to nest in South Africa. They have been studied more in East Africa where couples spend most of their lives together.

I have had two very interesting and unique bird sightings in this month, I reckon I could get into birding.

If you would like to contact Warren to have some of your interesting insects, snakes or other wildlife identified, send him a WhatsApp message or call him on 072-211-0353.
Visit his Facebook page called, Warren’s Small World.