African Fish Eagle

 

Hello friends before I start let me thank each one of you from the bottom of my heart, without your love and support journey to achieve the century would not have become possible. Never thought that I will get so much of love from my followers, will keep my promise for updating you on unique wilderness and together we will achieve many more milestones in future. 

After hitting the century what to offer is a big challenge, with multiple option in mind what to offer, was getting into multiple loops but then thought lets continue to enjoy African safari for a while, and then I started looking into African Safari portfolio. Suddenly lake Naivasha's pictures helped me to finalize today's topic. last time it was animal so I thought to bring charming bird this time and hence I am bringing you Pirate of African River. Yes, it is none other than charismatic and sharp African Fish Eagle.

The pirate story

The interesting fact of this lovely raptor is that they are Kleptoparasites, This means they actively steal food from other birds. Goliath herons and saddle-billed storks are their common victims, but fish eagles can scavenge like the best of them and will take from almost any other bird. This is why people call them the pirates of Africa’s rivers and lakes! 

Another story is about the hunting style, the biggest success of the trip was to capture this lovely creature with its specialty. We were continuously watching a couple of eagles and ignoring all other species for some time, we were praying for eagle to find prey. After strong prayer, our dream came true when with sharp eyes eagle managed to target fish and came down heavily and grabbed it with its strong talons. It was nothing but the golden moment and we were as in high on excitement.  DSLR section will help more to understand our excitement, Now let me provide you details of fantastic facts of this elegant bird in the next section. 

Fantastic Facts

They belong to the Haliaeetus genus of sea eagles, one of the most ancient bird genera. These birds have been here since long before man. In fact, they’ve been here since before primates!  

A fish eagle’s toes are coated in sharp barbs, called spiricules, which consequently, help it to grasp fish and other slippery prey

The African fish eagle is the national bird of four countries. These four countries are where the bird is found in abundance: Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Sudan. Not only is it their national bird, but the fish eagle also features on the coat of arms of all these countries

They have an incredibly diverse dinner menu, African fish eagles aren’t just scavengers. Nor do they feed purely on fish. Other birds and mammals supplement fish. They are incredibly efficient hunters, picking on ducks, waterfowl, and various birds. In East Africa, they even feed on flamingos. Other prey includes lizards, frogs, and carrion

These raptors are such strong hunters they sometimes target unusual prey. Who would think that a fish eagle could carry off a baby crocodile! Or a small monkey!

African fish eagles can carry prey that’s up to ten times its own body weight. Rather than carry it high into the sky it will drag prey across the water surface until it reaches a safe place to land

It has many names; in Zimbabwe, they are called Hungwe, in the Shona language. To the Zulu, they are Inkwazi. In Afrikaans, these birds are known as Visarend

Fish eagles sing with hippos, Fish eagles have a very distinctive yodeling yelp. Amazingly, these birds duet with hippos. Fish eagles provide the treble while hippo grunts offer the baritone in this animal orchestra

African fish eagles are one of the highlights of an African safari. They can thrive in marshes, rainforest, grassland, desert coastlines, swamps, and savannahs. Don’t miss lake safari at Naivasha to enjoy Fish eagle show

I hope you liked this blog, keep blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, do let me know your feedback on btwildart@gmail.om

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The Asian Koel is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of crows and other hosts, where the foster parents raise the young. Refer the link to know more https://btwildart.blogspot.com/2019/03/melody-queen-kokila-koyal.html 

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DSLR Section