African harrier-hawk

The breeding season starts at different times in different parts of African harrier-hawk distribution. In Nigeria the breeding season is in March-August[3] and South of the equator it appears that the breeding season is in the austral summer[3] but can vary in the months of different countries in South Africa it is November-December but in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe it is September-November.[3][7][8]

Nest sites are most commonly in large trees[3] that are sometimes growing out of or located on a rocky outcrop.[9] Nests are circular and often placed in the main fork of the tree and are below the canopy. Nests can be used for several breeding seasons[3] and are relatively big as are other raptors[3] reaching estimated sizes of 0.75m wide and 0.2m deep.[3][9] Nests are made of sticks and are lined with leaves from trees neighbouring the nest.[3] The clutch is one to three eggs.

In the courtship display for African harrier-hawks either one of or both individuals in a pair soar slowly together, at height, and can often be heard calling during this time.[3] When the male flies on his own he often flies in an undulating pattern and flaps his wings.[9] When the pair fly together, there have been records of the male diving towards the female[3] and touching her back with his talons, and the female turning over and touching talons with the male.[3][9]

The African harrier-hawk is omnivorous, eating the fruit of the oil palm as well as hunting small vertebrates. Its ability to climb, using wings as well as feet, and its long double-jointed legs, enable this bird to raid the nests of cavity-nesters such as barbets and woodhoopoes for eggs and nestlings. It has been known to prey on introduced species such as feral pigeons, house sparrows and eastern gray squirrels.[10][11]

African harrier-hawks have been identified to employ four different hunting strategies namely: low soaring, high soaring, perch hunting and, canopy and ground foraging.[9] Low soaring is the most commonly used method.The harrier-hawk flies close to the canopy and is often mobbed by small passerine birds. The African harrier-hawk uses the level of aggression shown to help locate nest sites of these passerines and has been observed to turn around when the mobbing by a passerine becomes less aggressive, the harrier-hawk will begin looking for nest sites in the trees once it has found the area where the passerines show the most aggression towards the African harrier-hawk.[9] To catch reptiles in the open African harrier-hawks use high soaring, flying at a maximum of 100m.[9] They descend quickly to a height just above that of the vegetation to where the prey was located.[9] Perch hunting is often used to hunt invertebrates such as orthoptera and other insects.[9] Canopy and ground foraging is where the harrier-hawk either walks on the ground or moves between branches in the canopy looking for prey, looking into crevices and holes in both trees and on the ground.[9]