The tawny eagle, also called Aquila rapax are medium to large size raptors that inhabit parts of Africa and Asia. They were once classified in the same category as Steppe eagles, but are now considered a distinct species. The tawny eagle’s heavily feathered legs show it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae also known as ‘booted eagles’.
Tawny eagles as the name suggests are brown-coloured. Their plumage may vary according to their home. Tawny eagles found in Africa tend to be light brown with more contrast in colouring with light brown upperparts and dark flight feathers and tail. Tawny eagles found in Asia tend to be darker overall with lesser contrast in plumage. All forms have yellow to light brown piercing eyes and a yellow beak, with a sharp, black hooked tip.
This eagle avoids dense forests and woodlands preferring instead arid deserts and open grasslands. It feeds on rabbits, small reptiles, lizards, insects, fish, snakes and also on fresh carrion of animals recently killed. This raptor is known as a ‘kleptoparasite’ as it will steal from other raptors. The tawny eagle is the only type of eagle that regularly scavenges from humans.
It is generally a silent bird which makes a ‘kwok kwok’ noise when aggravated. Tawny eagles are monogamous and pair for life. They typically lay one to three eggs in a wide nest made on a tree or on the ground. Both males and females are involved in making the nest and each nest is used for up to three years. The life span of the tawny eagle is around 16 years although the oldest recorded tawny eagle living in the wild was 60 years. In India this raptor is found in Punjab, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, western Bengal, northeastern Bihar, the Deccan Plateau, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The tawny eagle is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN list of threatened species. Direct persecution, the impacts of urban development and the loss of nesting habitat are causes for the decline in its numbers.
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