Description

The martial eagle is a very large eagle, with an average length of 78–96 cm (31–38 in), weight of 3–6.2 kg (6.6–13.7 lb) and a wingspan of 188–260 cm (6 ft 2 in–8 ft 6 in). Its total length – in comparison to its wingspan – is restricted by its very short tail. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 56–67.5 cm (22.0–26.6 in), the tail is 27.2–32 cm (10.7–12.6 in), the tarsus is 9.7–13 cm (3.8–5.1 in).This is the largest eagle in Africa and is the fifth heaviest (on average) eagle in the world.

The adult's plumage consists of dark grey-brown coloration on the upperparts, head and upper chest, with slightly lighter edging to these feathers. The body underparts are white with blackish-brown spotting. The underwing coverts are brown, with pale flight feathers being streaked with black. The female is usually larger and more spotted than the male. The immature is paler above, often whitish on the head and chest, and has less spotted underparts. It reaches adult plumage in its seventh year. Martial eagles have a short erectile crest, which is often not prominent. It often perches in a quite upright position, with its long wings completely covering the tail. The bill, at 5.5 cm (2.2 in), is strong and the legs are feathered to the heavy, powerful feet.

There are few serious identification challenges for the species. The black-chested snake eagle is smaller, with a relatively more prominent head and white lining the flight feathers. The crowned eagle, which also regularly perches in an erect position, has distinctly shorter wings and a distinctly longer tail and, though its plumage is fairly variable, it is more scaled on the back and it has distinctive barring on the underparts and the wings. More so than any other African eagle, the martial eagle is often seen only in flight.

Martial eagles have been noted as remarkable for their extremely keen eyesight (3.0–3.6 times human acuity). Due to this power, they can spot potential prey from a very great distance.

Fun Facts

The martial eagle is one of the world's most powerful avian predators and, among African raptors, only the crowned eagle is comparable in predatory dominance. The martial eagle is an apex predator, being at the top of the avian food chain in its environment and, if in healthy condition, has few natural predators, although there are records of leopards preying on martial eagles. 

Although the ranges of the martial and crowned eagles occasionally abut each other, the species have differing habitat preferences, with the crowned preferring denser forests as opposed to the wooded savanna preferred by the martial eagle, and the two are not known to compete directly. The diet of the martial eagle varies greatly with prey availability and can be dictated largely by opportunity. One study of the eagles in Kruger National Park found that 45% of their diet was made up of birds, particularly game birds and Egyptian geese.

Reptiles, especially lizards like monitor lizards and snakes, including Cape cobras, boomslangs, puff adders, the Eastern and Western green mambas, and even black mambas and African Rock Pythons, made up 38%. The remaining 17% of prey in the study were made up of mammalian prey .The martial eagle hunts mostly in flight, circling high above its territory, and stooping sharply to catch its prey by surprise. Prey may be spotted from 3 to 5 kilometers away. On occasion, they may still-hunt from a high perch or concealed in vegetation near watering holes. Unusually for a bird of its size, it may hover while hunting. Birds are typically killed on the ground or in trees, but there are records of bird prey being killed in mid-flight