Black Eagle

About the Black Eagle

The black eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis) is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and it is the only member of the genus Ictinaetus. It soars over forests in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical South and Southeast Asia, as well as southeastern China, hunting mammals and birds, particularly at their nests. It is easily identified by its widely splayed and long primary "fingers", the characteristic silhouette, slow flight and yellow ceres and legs that contrast with the dark feathers.

The species name is spelt malayensis in many publications, but the original spelling used by Temminck in his description was malaiensis, according to a 2011 finding of some of the original covers of the part publications, leading to taxonomists applying the principle of priority and rejecting any later spelling emendations.

A molecular phylogenetic study of the Accipitridae published in 2024 found that the black eagle is sister to the three spotted eagles in the genus Clanga. Two subspecies are recognised: I. m. perniger (Hodgson, 1836) – north India and Nepal, Bhutan, south India and Sri Lanka.

I. m. malaiensis (Temminck, 1822) – Myanmar... Wikipedia →