The Crowned Eagle is the most powerful eagle in Africa. It can fly at up to 100 mph silently and kill prey that weigh up to 44 pounds. We saw these eagles hunting in Africa and it was an unbelieveably impressive sight. Mated eagle pairs often hunt together which is what we observed. They are monogamous unless their mate dies, and they return to the same nest for many years.

Crowned Eagles are the only surviving members of their genus, the Madagascar Crowned Hawk Eagle which became extinct about a thousand years ago.

The San Diego Zoo had the first Crowned Eagle hatched in captivity in 1996.

I imagine this is how the eagle might look to it’s prey as it closed in. Rather intimidating no?

If one of these eagles escaped from the zoo and flew over to The Holler, the red-tailed hawks would catch the next air draft to Arizona!