The red-bellied hawk is a small bird of prey with long, pointed wings. It is also called the pigeon hawk because it looks like a pigeon. It often moves alone or in small groups, and often rests on the tops of trees or telephone poles when resting. It mainly feeds on animal food such as frogs and lizards, and also eats small birds, rodents and insects. It mainly hunts on the ground, often standing on high places such as treetops, and suddenly rushes down to hunt when it sees prey.
The red-bellied eagle breeds in May and June. The male eagle is particularly excited at this time, and often excitedly sends a show-off call similar to "Keee-Keee" to the opposite sex, and even screams when building a nest. The eagle's nest is located in the bushes in the forest, made of dead branches and green leaves. Each nest lays 2-5 eggs, which are 34-38 mm × 29-30 mm in size. The eggs are light blue-white with inconspicuous brown spots. During the 30 days when the female eagle incubates alone, fresh green leaves are added every day as bedding for the bird's nest. Perhaps this is related to the need to maintain a certain humidity in the nest during the incubation period.
The number of red-bellied eagles is very small and extremely rare. It is listed as a national Class II key protected animal in China and has been listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Animals and Flora (CITES) for protection.
In May 2022, two red-bellied eagles flew into the woods of Meihua Mountain in Nanjing.