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Where to see

Where to see the Tawny Eagle in South Africa

Hosts have recorded the Tawny Eagle at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Sabi Sand Game Reserve.

Aquila rapax · Vulnerable

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Tawny Eagle
Photo: (c) Alan Manson, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Alan Manson

Planning a trip

When and where to find the Tawny Eagle

Hosts have recorded the Tawny Eagle at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Sabi Sand Game Reserve.

Best hours of the day

  • Late morning to mid-afternoon. Raptors soar once the sun raises thermals.
  • Early morning. Often perched while the air warms.

Where to base yourself

  • Limpopo

    Limpopo

    Kruger

    Self-drive
    Stays in Limpopo
    Limpopo
  • Northern Cape

    Northern Cape

    Kgalagadi

    Self-driveMalaria-free
    Stays in Northern Cape
    Northern Cape
  • KwaZulu-Natal

    KwaZulu-Natal

    Hluhluwe-Imfolozi · iSimangaliso Wetland · Ithala

    Stays in KwaZulu-Natal
    KwaZulu-Natal
  • Mpumalanga

    Mpumalanga

    Sabi Sand

    Guided drives
    Stays in Mpumalanga
    Mpumalanga

Ways to look

Drive yourself

Your own vehicle and pace, on the park's roads.

Where hosts record it

KrugerKgalagadi

Guided drives from a lodge

A guide who knows where to look, with off-road and night drives in the private reserves.

Where hosts record it

Sabi Sand

IUCN Red List

Vulnerable

Species

Aquila rapax

Records

2,323

iNaturalist observations

Every booking on Spekboom supports conservation.

Questions travellers ask

A record means a host has seen the Tawny Eagle on the property or nearby. It is never a guarantee of a sighting.

Which parks and reserves are best for the Tawny Eagle in South Africa?

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.

Where can you see the Tawny Eagle in South Africa?

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.

When is the best time to see the Tawny Eagle?

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.

What is the conservation status of the Tawny Eagle?

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

What is the Tawny Eagle?

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”.

Stays that give back

Where to stay for a chance to see the Tawny Eagle

Every stay on the Tawny Eagle page lists the species its host has recorded on or near the property. A record is a sighting, never a promise.

See where to stay