South African Country Life – September 2019

when the mother needs a break, and deliver
food directly to the nest for about three weeks
after the chick is born, leaving immediately
after the mother takes it, and never feeding
the youngster himself. Thereafter he is not
tolerated on the nest, but must wait with food
for the mother at the look-out tree.
Impressively large and powerful raptors
in their own right, with fearsome talons, the
males are considerably smaller than their
mates. It is only when you see them together
that the true majesty of the 30 per cent larger
female is revealed.
There’s a fairly tight window of opportunity
to ringtheseraptors.Youwantto catchthemon
thenestbeforetheycanfly,forobviousreasons.
Butevenmoreimportantly,youwantto catch
thembeforetheythinktheycanfly.Thethought
ofoneoftheserareandbeautifulbirdsjumping
outofthenestandcrashingto groundwith
a brokenwingorneck,is well,unthinkable.
Ontheotherhand,thethoughtoffittinga metal
ringto ananklethatwilloutgrowit anddamage
thefoot– thebird’sprimaryweaponforfeeding
anddefence– is equallyso.
Themagictimeis between 70 and 80 days
old.Thetarsiarefullydeveloped– babybirds,
raptorsin particular,tendto growfromthe
bottomup– manysporthugeclownfeet.
By 90 daysthewingandtailfeathersarefully
grown,thefellowis catchingairunderhisfeet
whenflappingvigorouslyonthenest,andis
probablythinkingaboutclamberingto thetop
ofhisnesttreeto takea shortflit.Something
he’lldoat about 110 daysafterhatching.
Sowhentheringingdayfinallydawnedto
heavycloudon 17 Januarythisyear,thesmall
groupof‘Eaglers’gatheredat UmdoniPark
eco-centre,eagerforthelongtrekthroughthe
forestto theviewsiteacrosstheriverfromthe
nesttree.Butanxiousabouttheweather.
“Itshouldbefine,”saidlittleTammyCaine,
shoulderingherenormouspackofgear,jaw
setin firmdetermination.AsFreeMeKZN
WildlifeRehabilitationCentre’sresidentraptor
specialistandfullyqualifiedringer,Tammy
knowsa thingortwoaboutclimbingtrees,
rainorshine.Andringingraptors.Asdoesher
partner,FreeMeKZN’sCEOWadeWhitehead
whocheerfullyhoistedanevenbiggerpack.
Sooffwesetwiththemintothefragrantdepths.
Fromacrosstheriver,wewatchedas
TammyandWadegearedupat thebaseofthe

nesttree.Ourjobwasto stayinconspicuous,

notstresstheeagles,keepquiet,butbellowout

a warningto Tammyshouldeitheroftheadults

mountanattack.

Fromthenest,thepiebaldchick,appearing

prettysanguine,peereddownquizzicallyat

theactivitybelow.Ofthefathertherewasno

sign,butthemotherloomedin a nearbytree,

imposingandimmobile,movingonlyherhead

to constantlysweepusallwithherscorching,

yellowgaze.

Thelead-lineswereshot,ropesand

pulleysfixed,andTammybeganherlong

ascentasa gentledrizzlebeganto fall.The

chickcouldn’tseeherthroughthethickfloor

ofthenest,hadlostinterestin proceedingsand

settleddownfora doze.Themotherglared.

A suddenshriek.Tammyfree-felldownher

ropes,landinghardonherrump.Wasps.She’d

disturbeda nestandwasquitebadlystung.The

chickpeered.Themotherglared.Undaunted,

theyrepositionedtheropesontheothersideof

thetree,andTammybravelybeganhersecond

attempt.Oncuetherainstoppedandthesun

cameout.

ButjustbelowthenestcameTammy,and

themotherwassuddenlythere,hertwo-metre

wingspandwarfingtheslight figure on the

ropes.Ourcriescamefartoo late and, by the

timetheirechoeshadfaded from the gorge,

themotherwasgone.And Tammy was still

climbing.

It wasnota strike,fortunately – the hallux

(upto 7cmhindtalon),the killing claw driven

deepintothebodyofprey to maximise internal

injuriesandinstantlykill,can do horrible things

to thehumanback– butnevertheless a pass-by

soclosethatTammyfeltthe wind of the eagle’s

silentpassage.

Thebagging,lowering, ringing, measuring

andreturnofthechick,a female now dubbed

‘L5’,wasaccomplishedwith gratifying

professionalism,gentleness and ease. And it

wasa thrillingmorning,leaving us with

newfoundrespectfortheeagles, and people

likeTammyandWadewho dedicate themselves

to theircare. ■

Mapreference 8E see inside back cover

Formoreinformationabout this research,

followCrownedEagleResearch on Facebook

@CrownedEagleResearch

FreeMeKZNWildlifeRehabilitation Centre

http://www.freemekzn.co.za

There’sa fairlytightwindowofopportunity to ring

theseraptors.Youwanttocatchthemon the nest

beforetheycanfly,forobviousreasons. But even

moreimportantly,youwanttocatch them

beforetheythinktheycanfly

ABOVE: The adult female African Crowned Eagle is 30 per cent larger than the male.

http://www.countrylife.co.za 073 September 2019