Tawny Eagle

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Tawny Eagle at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Ithala Game Reserve and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Tawny Eagle is most recorded in Mpumalanga (51% of records), Limpopo (28% of records), Northern Cape (13% of records), based on 2,323 iNaturalist observations. 47 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Tawny Eagle on site or nearby.

The Tawny Eagle is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: Aug-Oct, flowers, Mar-May; Sabi Sand Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep optimal; Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park: year-round, dry season May-Sep. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

The tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) is a large, long-lived bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Its heavily feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as “booted eagles”.