African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer)

April 23, 2010 | Posted by Safari Guide

The Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) is a splendid creature, its imposing appearance and challenging call symbolic of the African wetlands. Not that it is confined to the wilderness: indeed it sometimes makes it home close to large cities.

African Fish Eagles are a common sight on many African lakes and Dams, including one of my favourite places, Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe where I took the photo used in this article.

The expressive term ‘raptor’ fits this bird well for it swoops down to pluck fish from the water with its fierce talons. They like almost all raptors have excellent eyesight and they can detect movement near the surface of the water indicating prey from distances of up to 200m or more. I recall once on a windy day, marvelling as a Fish eagle swept down again and again in a magnificent stoop to snatch fish carried along by the wash. Several times, as I sat watching, my attention was caught by a cormorant that had followed a fish towards the shore, but, on surfacing, the bird suddenly made off into the lake as fast as it could go. Next moment, the eagle flashed down and seized the fish but the cororant was obviously taking no chances that the indisputably superior bird might suddenly decide on a change in diet.

This is not the Fish Eagle’s only way of hunting. They will occasionally plunge dive and in the dry season, when when the fish are crowded together in shallower water, it may alight and hunt on foot, and will make a meal of any stranded fish it may chance upon. Chicks in the nest are another delicacy. A few years ago, at Rondevlei Bird sanctuary near Cape Town, a Fish Eagle took up its perch each day on a water tower overlooking a heronry. Its patience was never rewarded for the birds were only nest buildling, but so sinister was its vigilant presence that it inhibited laying and the whole colony was abandoned for that season.

It is likely, however that this particular eagle was a youngster, for immature birds prefer to feed off nestlings and carrion rather than take the risks of hunting in water. A great many inexperienced Fish Eagles do not survive their attempts to emulate the adults’ hunting methods. This species either flies at great speed along the water and snatches fish from near the surface, or – more dangerous – dives to capture its vistum. If it does not succeed on its first try, it will dive again, each time becoming more water-logged. Younger and less proficient birds often find themselves too wet and weak from repeated efforts to lift themselves from the water and occasionally drown or are snapped up by cruising crocodiles.

Some Fish Eagles will harass and bully herons, storks, pelicans, kingfishers and osprey into disgorging their prey. I have seen this happen only twice myself, and each time – unfortunately for the eagle – it had chosen the biggest South African heron – the Goliath. The heron crouched down with its dagger-like beak thrust upwards and the eagle, after one or two abortive stoops, gave up and went in search of an easier meal.

For more information: African Birds

Sasol Birds of Southern Africa	Newman’s Birds of Southern Africa	Collins Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa

Highly Recommended Features an advanced technique for improved field identification, and an extensive taxonomy featuring corrected misidentifications and recorded species splits that have occured since the previous edition. Uupdated names based on recommendations of the International Ornithological Committee and name hyphenations. The guide features distribution maps that feature dual shading to show relative abundance of a species in the region, as well as crosses to indicate occurances of vagrants.	Highly Recommended The eighth edition of this popular Southern African birding book has been updated to incorporate the information obtained since the previous edition relating to the birds of the region. The user-friendly design makes it ideal for use in the field, with aids such as colour-coding of major bird groups, running heads at the top of each page to indicate which family of birds is being described, large page numbers for easy reference and large accurate paintings which reflect the bird as it is seen in the field.	The Collins Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa, is an excellent book if you are visiting any of the countries in this this spectacular birding region, including Kenya and Tanzania. Review: ‘This is by far the best available guide to the birds in this region, but has one major drawback – virtually no migrants from Eurasia are illustrated.’
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