Dear All,
Dr. Julie Wieczkowski recovered the skull of an adult
male Tana River Mangabey in Mcheleo Forest, lower Tana River, in
2006. The punctures in the skull make us strongly suspect that this
monkey was was killed by an African Crowned Eagle. We have drafted a note
on this finding. Here is what the draft now says about the occurrence of
the African Crowned Eagle along the lower Tana River.
Crowned eagles at the lower Tana River
Crowned
eagles are present in the forests of the lower Tana River (Andrews et al., 1975;
Lewis and Pomeroy, 1989; Zimmerman et al., 1999; D.N.M. Mbora, pers. comm.).
They are, however, uncommon; there are few observations of crowned eagles, no
nests have been confirmed, and none of the current researchers have heard the
far-carrying, distinctive, prolonged display call during many years of research
in these forests (D.N.M. Mbora, pers. comm.; T.M. Butynski and J. Wieczkowski,
pers. obs.).
I write this to ask whether any of the readers have seen or
heard the African Crowned Eagle in the forests of the lower Tana River....either
in the distant past or recently.
Monkeys remain extremely abundant in these forests....and
other prey of the Crowned Eagle (e.g., dik-dik) are also present. The
current absence, or very low density, of Crowned Eagles in the forests of the
lower Tana River is difficult to explain, although my own impression is
that, for whatever reason, the Crowned Eagle is more a bird of
mid-altitude and montane forest than of lowland / coastal forest.
Any comments are appreciated!
Best regards,
Tom
Thomas M.
Butynski, PhD
Director
King Khalid Wildlife Research Center
P. O. Box
61681
Riyadh 11575
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Mobile:
00-966-559-612-499
E-mail: tbutynski@aol.com