Life ain't easy in the African bush, especially when almost everything is trying to eat you. On a recent safari in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy on the northern border of Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve, a group of guests and guides with safari company Great Plains Conservation witnessed a dramatic showdown.
While traversing the grasslands around Mara Plains Camp, the group spotted a martial eagle – the biggest and most formidable of the continent's raptors – hurtling towards the ground in a high-speed dive. Initially uncertain what had attracted the eagle's attention, the group watched as it plummeted to the earth. Out of the long grass emerged a tiny, newborn Thompson's gazelle and the eagle's intentions instantly became clear.
Young Thompson's gazelles spend much of their early days hunkered down in the grass where they can use their mottled coats to remain hidden from opportunistic predators. The strategy doesn't always work, however. An aerial advantage coupled with excellent eyesight helped this martial eagle pick out the ill-fated fawn and the raptor swooped in for an easy meal.
The gazelle's mother charged in to defend her calf, but the eagle proved too powerful. "She was able to, for a moment, knock the eagle off balance and send it flying back a few metres," the Great Plains Conservation team explained to Latest Sighting, who recently shared the footage. "However, the eagle’s size and determination were just too much for the mother gazelle, and the eagle returned, this time, gripping the baby firmly in its talons."
Hunts like this are rarely captured on camera, but martial eagles can, and do, take down sizeable prey. Their diet varies regionally, but usually on the menu are small mammals such as hares, antelope or young primates. They will also feed on other birds as well as reptiles.
Armed with a pair of remarkably large talons on their first and second toes, accipitrids (eagles, hawks, kites, harriers, etc.) are able to anchor their bounty and subdue even the most powerful prey. Once the animal tires, sharp claws quickly finish the job. Accipitrids have weaker bites than falcons and no "teeth" to tear at their prey, so their preferred method of killing is suffocation using their talons.
Bigger meals may be too heavy to be hauled to the safety of the treetops, so large eagles like martials sometimes feast on the ground. To help avoid losing their hard-earned meals to thieving scavengers, accipitrids may use their wings to shield their prey in a behaviour known as "mantling" – something that this eagle does when trying to see off the defensive onslaught of the mother gazelle. In this position, the wings are spread and slumped to the ground, revealing the bird's upper back, called the mantle, which gives the posture its name. Mantling is often accompanied by regular bouts of nervous scanning as the bird checks to make sure there are no threats approaching.
Eventually, the mother admitted defeat and walked away, relinquishing her calf to the eagle.
Top header image: Ken Clifton/Flickr
Predator vs Prey
Film and Photo
Animal Behaviour
