Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) feeding on a Rock Monitor (Varanus albigularis)
Photographed in the Masai Mara, Kenya
This was one of the most powerful-looking and beautiful birds of prey we saw and photographed during our trip. The bird had already been feeding on the monitor lizard when our driver first spotted him in the tree and may have been full enough to content itself with looking down at us rather than flying to a different tree. When I had a chance to read up about Martial Eagles I discovered that their dietary selections are varied and include: mammals, birds and, obviously, reptiles. Apparently the monitor upon which this eagle is feeding can get as large as 18 lbs and almost 5 feet long. This one was clearly smaller but I'd guess it was somewhere around 3 to 3.5 feet from nose to end of tail.
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Wikipedia information regarding Martial Eagles: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_eagle
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