Wildlifeof Malaysia
Mountain Hawk-Eagle
Birds of Prey
Photo: (c) Brodie Cass Talbott, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY (May be cropped or resized)
Nisaetus nipalensis
Basic stats
Diet
Birds, mammals, reptiles and other vertebrates
Habitat
Forest, mostly at about 600–2,800m in the Himalaya
Range
Northern Indian subcontinent through Bangladesh to Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan
The mountain hawk-eagle, or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. Like other Asian hawk-eagles it was earlier placed in the genus Spizaetus, but genetic studies placed the Old World members in Nisaetus. The crest is largely black with a small buffy tip, and the feathered tarsus marks it as a booted eagle. It is named nipalensis for Nepal, and Hodgson for the naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described it after collecting one himself in the Himalaya (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is a forest dweller and opportunistic predator, readily varying its prey between birds, mammals, reptiles and other vertebrates, and it is silent apart from the breeding season, when its call is a shrill treble note like a penny whistle (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What does the Mountain Hawk-Eagle eat?
- Birds, mammals, reptiles and other vertebrates
- What habitat does the Mountain Hawk-Eagle live in?
- Forest, mostly at about 600–2,800m in the Himalaya
- Where is the Mountain Hawk-Eagle found?
- Northern Indian subcontinent through Bangladesh to Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan