Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus)

It might be small for an eagle, only slightly larger than a Common Buzzard, but the Booted Eagle is a formidable and dangerous predator, whose attacks are known for their speed and vehemence. When hunting it soars at a height of 200m or more, and then makes breathtaking rapid and forceful stoops down to the ground, crashing on to its prey. It will also plunge into the woodland canopy from lower flight and pursue birds among the foliage. With its extreme agility it can manoeuvre quickly, even in tight spaces, and it can be persistent where necessary. To make matters worse for its potential prey, individuals of a pair regularly hunt co-operatively.

By Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa – Booted eagle, Hieraaetus pennatus, at Kgalagadi 001, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74901585

Birds are the usual victims, and they can be very small, no larger than a warbler – which suggests that the Booted Eagle can snatch them in mid-air – or as big as a Red-legged Partridge or Carrion Crow. The other principle targets are lizards, of which the large, green Ocellated Lizard (Lacerta lepida) is important in Spain. Small mammals are, on the whole, less important.

Booted Eagles begin their breeding season by displaying in great style and calling incessantly. For its sky-dance the male will soar very high and make a series of closed-wing vertical dives of up to 200m descent, each time breaking off before reaching the ground and using its momentum to sweep upwards again. Later on the female may join in, and the male will dive towards her with its wing-tips touching its tail, before both plunge down to the treetop nest-site.

By Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa – Booted eagle, Hieraaetus pennatus, at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape, South Africa, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74901608

Mainly a bird of warm, sunny, slopes and woodland, the Booted Eagle is a summer visitor to Europe, arriving in late March and leaving in September. It is not a sociable species and on its wintering grounds individuals are so thinly scattered that they seem to melt away into the vastness of Africa, with few records anywhere.

From ‘Birds: A Complete Guide to All British and European Species’, by Dominic Couzens. Published by Collins and reproduced with permission.