Mountain Hawk Eagle

The Mountain Hawk Eagle (Spizaetus nipalensis) is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae.

Mountain Hawk Eagle breeds in southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to China and Japan. It is a bird of mountain woodland, which builds a stick nest in a tree and lays usually a single egg.

Mountain Hawk Eagle is a medium-large raptor at about 70-72cm in length. It has a prominent crest.

The typical adult has brown upperparts and pale underparts, with barring on the undersides of the flight feathers and tail. The breast and belly and underwing coverts are heavily streaked. The wings are broad with a curved trailing edge, and are held in a shallow V in flight.

The heavier underpart streaking and wing shape help to distinguish this species from the similar Changeable Hawk Eagle, (Spizaetus cirrhatus).

Sexes are similar, but young birds are often whiter-headed. The Sri Lankan subspecies (S. n. kelaarti) is smaller and has unstreaked buff underwing coverts. Mountain Hawk Eagle eats small mammals, birds and reptiles.

Reference

• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6