Black Eagle

Name of a 70 to 80 centimeter large bird of prey, with the scientific name Ictinaetus malayensis. It has a dark brown to black plumage, long angled wings and a tail with pale indistinct bands. Its closed wingtips fall close to or sometimes even behind the tail-tip (fig.). The long feathers on the nape give its head an angular profile. It somewhat resembles the darker varieties of the Changeable Hawk-eagle (fig.). It occurs in Southern Asia, from India and Sri Lanka to Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is mountain woodlands. Its diet consists of small mammals such as rats and bats, small birds and swifts, but it is also known to raid other bird's nests to prey on the eggs and young. It is able to fly at very slow pace and circling in and out of forest clearings when looking for its prey. In Thai, it is called nok insih dam (นกอินทรีดำ), i.e. ‘black eagle’, a literal translation of the English common name. Also known as Indian Black Eagle. 回