Nisaetus nipalensis

The eagle is a medium-to-large raptor that is common in southern my country. It is powerful, fierce, and swift. It can be said to dominate southern Asia. From its appearance to its behavior, it shows the majesty of the "forest overlord". It mainly preys on prey that move on the ground and has few rivals. Its sharp claws can pierce the skull of its prey and can even prey on red pandas. It mainly feeds on muntjacs, macaques, hares, pheasants, snakes, lizards, mustelids and rodents, and also preys on small birds and large insects, and occasionally fish.

<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: "Microsoft YaHei", Arial, Helvetica, s ans-serif; font-size: Eagles often move alone, have strong flying ability, often stretch their wings flat, flap slowly, sometimes hover in the sky, often stand on dead trees in dense forests. Their calls are very noisy.

<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: "Microsoft YaHei", Arial, Helvetica, Eagles build their nests on tall trees in mountain forests. The nests are made of branches and are relatively large in structure. They are usually located on branches near the main stem in the upper part of the tree. The breeding season is from January to June. Each nest lays 2 eggs, but there are also cases where there are as few as 1 and as many as 3 eggs. The eggs are usually light gray or white, without spots or with only unclear light red spots. The eggs are oval in shape. The female bird is responsible for incubation and is very protective of the nest.

Distributed in southwest China, east China, south China, Hainan Island and Taiwan Island. In recent years, the population has spread to central China and the Qinling Mountains. Abroad, it is distributed in countries and regions such as the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Indonesia and Japan. It inhabits mountain forests at 300-2500 meters, and may prefer forests above 1000 meters above sea level, but it also appears in forests and forest margins in low mountains and hills and plains at the foot of the mountain, especially in winter. It is lazy and does not like to fly very much, and can perch on the trunks of dead tall trees for a long time. The flying posture is stable and the wings are flapping slowly. Occasionally, several eagles can be seen flying together. It mainly feeds on hares, squirrels, pheasants, pigeons, rodents, etc. It also preys on small birds, large insects, lizards, etc. There are also records of preying on snakes and fish.

The most obvious feature of the eagle is the long black crest behind its head, which is much more prominent than the crest of the brown-bellied falcon, and often stands vertically on its head. Males and females are similar. It has a long crest and very wide wings. When flying, you can see parallel black thick horizontal stripes under its wings, and its tail opens in a fan shape. The adult bird has a white throat with a midline in the throat; a white chest with obvious fine vertical stripes in black; dark thick horizontal stripes on the lower chest, abdomen, and legs, and 5-6 black horizontal stripes on the tail. The body color of sub-adult birds may change in many ways as they age. At first, it is light yellow and beige, with no stripes, no midline in the throat, and the horizontal stripes on the tail feathers are not prominent. As they age, the body color gradually darkens and the stripes become increasingly intense.