I've always been a vulture girl thru & thru. They needed all the love & PR in the world. But I did not realize how even the most majestic eagles were declining greatly without being noticed.
This is the mighty Martial Eagle 1 & 2 are just abt 3½ months old the other is an adult

A lot of very "common species" are being wiped out by things we don't know. This species has declined by over 50% since the last atlasing period called SABAP1 published in 1997(Southern African Bird Atlas Project 1) SABAP2 began in 2007

This spp is an African top predator. The biggest most powerful eagle we have (believe me I felt the power) it is as important in the ecosystem as lions are. We need to understand what is happening to this iconic species before we have to resort to desperate measures & sob stories

To conserve Martials, we need to understand their habitat, their use of the habitat, their prey base & their breeding patterns
@Meg_Murg and I visited nests in the Kruger to collect data that could answer some of these questions.

They seem to quite love eating dragons (monitor lizards) they also eat a range of game birds and small mammals. They nest on the forks of very tall fairly straight strong trees & use large sticks to build. Sadly like most, their breeding success rates are low

Conservation of a spp isn't easy. Its appreciated when orgs come together to make the work of researchers easier. Special thanks to @BushloreAfrica who supported us with a bakkie & collaborators @Fitztitute @hawkwatchint @TheEWT & @ground_hornbill for sharing their sightings

If you're wondering what you can do to help: send us your sightings & photos of Martial Eagles. Be on the look out for colored leg rings. Financially support these orgs. Join SABAP2 by downloading the BirdLasser app & entering your bird sigthings for use in research.