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Batueler Eagle (juvenile)

Terathopius ecaudatus

Photo by MudWiggle
Published on Project Noah
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-3.21178, 35.5101

Field Notes

Description:

Large prey bird 40-50cm tall, Brown plumage on back and wings and chest, lighter tan plumage on head, face seems to be almost bare, longish beak with curve on the end. Short tail. distinctive line across the wings.

Habitat:

Seen in open woodland in the Ngorongoro

Notes:

I didn't get time to see him very well, sorry about the photos. What a lot of trouble this young one was to identify ! Thanks all for the input. :)

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (13)
JoshuaGSmith
Plus, Lammergeier are not found found in open woodland. They prefer the mountains.
JoshuaGSmith
I agree with the new ID! Lammergeier is close, but not as close as the Bateleur.
AshleyT
They are beautiful! Hopefully we can both see them again and get better photos, because my photos weren't very good either haha
MudWiggle
yes, now I searched and looked for that it is quite obvious.. gosh what a grand colour change from juvenile to adult.. that is really amazing. I do have an adult one but the photo is so dark it does not do him justice.. hopefully will see another one one day. They are beautiful. That is great, thanks!
AshleyT
Juvenile Bateleur is definitely an ID I can support! I think you nailed it :) Did you get to see an adult? They are so cool! I saw a pair my first trip to Africa, definitely a bird I'll never forget!
MudWiggle
re confusing vulture... I had a better look around and now I think this is actually a Juvenile Batueler Eagle... any thoughts?
AshleyT
I probably would, if just for a few days. Just so more people will see it that are out looking for birds to ID, and hopefully tomorrow Josh will see this conversation and have some input on it to see if he can clear up the confusion!
MudWiggle
Thanks Ashley.. yes, I am also confused... He looks quite like one because his head feathers are all fluffed up, and face is bare, and the wings are vulture like, but he doesn't have the black eye or the beard, and the legs are not as heavily feathered as the bearded, and there is quite a distinctive line across the end of the wing... and the length of the tail etc. Its very difficult sometimes with young ones they can vary so much. They are not great photos, I think only taken from a moving vehicle, I didn't get to stop. Should I change him back to un ID?
AshleyT
I'm not convinced on this one. All the photos I see of bearded vultures have tails that are just as long as their wings, or longer. This bird appears to have a really short tail. And it would be weird for it to be molting all the tail feathers at the same time. And juveniles have dark heads, this one doesn't. And it doesn't have a beard. Overall it looks like one, but not everything adds up
MudWiggle
Hi Josh, Thanks for the ID.. do you think it is a Juvenile then? Its just I also thought of bearded because of the head feathers. But the face is so completely different from all the images for Beardeds have quite a distinctive black eye stripe and the little beard. Is it because it is a young one? This juvenile plumage is really giving me a hard time in ID's.

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PublishedOctober 5, 2015

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