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6

Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) German name(s): "Habichtsadler" Size: 55-65 cm; wing span 1.45-1.65 m

Europe: Family Group 6 Family Group 6 Table Lammergeier Eurasian Black Vulture Griffon Vulture Rueppell's Vulture Egyptian Vulture Osprey White-tailed Eagle Golden Eagle Spanish Imperial Eagle Short-toed Snake Eagle Bonelli's Eagle Booted Eagle Red Kite Black Kite European Honey Buzzard Common Buzzard Rough-legged Buzzard Long-legged Buzzard Western Marsh Harrier Hen Harrier Montagu's Harrier Pallid Harrier Black-winged Kite Eurasian Sparrowhawk Gyrfalcon Peregrine Falcon Common Kestrel Merlin Eurasian Hobby Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Bonelli's Eagles are relatively large raptors, but only medium-sized eagles. The sexes are alike, although females are both larger and heavier than males. The underparts, from chin to vent, are light-grey, with darker grey streaking. The undertail coverts are barred white/dark-grey, while the undertail is grey with a wide black terminal band. Many individuals have a patch on the mantle in the same colours; others lack that feature in their plumage. The legs are completely feathered, also in the same shades of grey. Their underwings have prominent dark-grey wing bars behind a grey, streaked leading edge, out to the carpal joint; the primary flight feathers and the tips of the secondaries and tertiaries are black, leading to an all-black outer fringe on the underwings. The rest of the wing is light- to mid-grey. Bonelli's Eagles glide with projecting carpal and straight trailing wing edge. The top of the head, the hindneck and the back are dark grey-brown. The upperwing coverts have rufous outer edges and dark-grey centres, leading to a scalloped appearance. The irises are orange-brown. The strong, hooked bill is yellow, with a dark-grey tip. The feet are yellow-orange. Juveniles have rufous-buff underparts, with dark streaking on the throat and chest, and rufous-buff underwing coverts, of which the primary coverts have dark tips. The primaries are dark-grey, while the rest of the flight feathers are mid-grey with fine darker barring. The undertail shows the same mid-grey colour with fine darker barring. There is no underwing bar yet. When worn, the underparts can become very pale, in a mixture of ruff and grey. The upperparts are similar to those of adults, only a bit lighter and more rufous. Over the course of 4 years, the body first becomes darker with the appearance of dark streaks, before the rufous parts later turn grey. The dark underwing bar becomes visible gradually, with the carpal spot developing first and the rest keeping a ragged, blotchy appearance until breeding age is reached. The upperparts do not change prominently.

Taxonomy, classification See Bonelli's Eagle at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of Bonelli's Eagle is available HERE . Bonelli's Eagles are sedentary throughout their range. Their overall distribution is patchy (see e.g. Wikipedia ). It ranges from the Atlas mountain range in North-west Africa, via parts of the Mediterranean and isolated areas in the Middle East, Arabia and South-west Asia to parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and most of India (except a wide coastal strip along the East coast of the subcontinent). They are also present in parts of Thailand and along a wide strip along the coastline of southern to central China. There is also a population in eastern Indonesia. In Europe Bonelli's Eagle is present only in the Mediterranean. Their range extends from large parts of Iberia, via the South of France to Sardinia, Sicily and the southern tip of Italy. They are also present along the eastern Adriatic coastline, in large parts of Greece and on Crete (and other, smaller islands off the coast of Turkey). Bonelli's Eagles have a preference for mountainous terrain or areas with caves or cliffs for nesting.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports finding Bonelli's Eagles occasionally in the area from the Tejo estuary to Mora, Evora, Portugal. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by J. Pires.

Photos

ADULT

The sexes of the birds presented below were not determined by looking at the morphology of their plumage, but instead by studying the behaviour and establishing the relative sizes of the partners in a mated pair.

In addition to this, the male bird shown in photos taken in October 2013, which still has an at least partly immature plumage, is categorized here as an adult male, because it was found to be breeding with a female with adult plumage.

MALE

Ventral view of an adult male Bonelli's Eagle - note the absence of a black terminal band on the tail; also the still dark upper body and the patchy appearance of the dark underwing bar indicate that this bird is still in sub-adult plumage
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, October 2013]

FEMALE

Lateral/ventral view of an adult female Bonelli's Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, October 2013]

Ventral view of an adult female Bonelli's Eagle - note the broad black terminal band on the tail; also the underwing morphology characterises this bird as an adult (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, October 2013]

Ventral view of an adult female Bonelli's Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, October 2013]

Ventral view of an adult female Bonelli's Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, October 2013]

PAIR

Distant view of a pair of Bonelli's Eagles in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, October 2013]

Sex unknown

Near-lateral/ventral view of an adult Bonelli's Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2016]

Lateral/ventral view of an adult Bonelli's Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2016]

Lateral/ventral view of an adult Bonelli's Eagle - note the bird's full crop (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Malarranha, near Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2023]

Ventral view of an adult Bonelli's Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral/ventral view of a second-year immature Bonelli's Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, August 2019]

Lateral/ventral view of a first-year juvenile Bonelli's Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2020]

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