Ictinaetus malayensis

The forest eagle is a medium-sized bird of prey and a Class II protected animal in China. It has superb flying skills and its large body can easily fly through the gaps between densely foliaged trees, which is amazing. It often hovers in the air, and sometimes its wave-like aerobatics can be seen, which can last for dozens of times, which is quite spectacular. It often stands quietly on a tall tree to observe the environment, and when prey appears, it suddenly rushes down to pounce on the prey. It mainly feeds on animal food such as mice, snakes, pheasants, pigeons, frogs, lizards, small and medium-sized forest birds, bird eggs, and large insects.

The forest eagle is divided into two subspecies, distributed in Fujian, Hainan, Taiwan and other places, but it is extremely rare in all places. It is a rare resident bird in Taiwan, China, and a migratory bird in southeastern Hainan. It is widely distributed in mountain forests below 2,600 meters above sea level on the main island of Taiwan, with slightly more in the north and east than in the south. Occasionally, it has been found in Kenting National Park in autumn. Two individuals briefly appeared in Yangmingshan National Park in 2005. There is no distribution on the outlying islands.

The breeding season is from November to March of the following year. The nests are built in dense evergreen broad-leaved forests or deciduous broad-leaved forests from the foot of the mountain to more than 2,000 meters above sea level, mostly on the upper part of tall trees. The size of the nest varies greatly, some are relatively loose and large, and each nest usually lays one egg, occasionally up to two eggs. The color of the eggs is white or grayish white, some are only slightly spotted with pink, and some are spotted with brick red, gray-brown, dark brown or reddish brown. The female bird incubates the eggs and is very protective of the nest. If someone enters the nesting area or wants to take away the eggs, it will attack violently. It is difficult to take away its eggs or chicks if it is not killed. Therefore, it is an extremely ferocious and aggressive forest raptor. After the breeding season, some populations live a wandering life.

In my country, it is widely distributed in suitable habitats south of the Yangtze River, including Hainan Island and Taiwan Island. Abroad, it is distributed in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indochina Peninsula, Indonesia and the Philippines.

It inhabits mountain forests and forest margins at medium and low altitudes below 2,600 meters, and often moves in pairs. It prefers virgin forests, but can also adapt to secondary forests with good forest appearance and fragmented woodlands developed and cut by humans. It often flies and hunts along the edge of the forest, but never leaves the forest. It is a bird of prey that completely lives in the forest.

A medium-sized to large bird of prey. It has seven long wing fingers. The male and female are monotypic. When flying, the wings are very wide and long, with a narrow wing base and wide wing tips, which is quite unique. There are several light-colored horizontal stripes on the tail feathers. The body color of both adults and immature birds is dark brown, similar to that of the black eagle, but the white stripes on the flight feathers and tail feathers of adults are not as obvious as those of adults.