Nov 2011
Mbuso, our juvenile Black Eagle chick, will soon be leaving the Garden to establish his own territory. He has been practicing to fly for a while now and hopefully all these efforts have perfected his skills that would allow him to hunt and fend for himself. Even if he still enjoys 'home' his parents will soon chase him out of their territory. We wish him every success and hope he will find a life partner and a suitable habitat to thrive in.
On Wednesday, 31 August, Mbuso the juvenile Verreaux’s eagle took his maiden flight from the nest site at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden. The young eagle was very keen to fledge from the nest at 89 days, and this surely indicates that it is a male, as females usually take a week or so longer, at over 100 days.
Mbuso was very active on the nest at a very young age, with wing exercises starting early on in his second month.
The adult eagles did a sterling job again this year in finding prey and in raising a strong and healthy chick, who will spend another three months in the natal area learning the eagle ways from its parent birds.
The adults will still provide prey for him, and at the end of November the adult male will start to show aggression towards Mbuso, as it will then be time for him to leave the area and find his own home territory.
Info from my SANBI Newsletter (South African National Biodiversity Institute)
Although, Black Eagles pair for life, they will replace their companion. In the Roodekrans scenario, the female, Emoyeni replaced her mate 3 times after 2 of them disappeared... Read the full story of the Black Eagles at 'Black Eagle Project Roodekrans'
You can go HERE to watch the EagleCam. The Black Eagle Cam is situated in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort, Gauteng, South Africa.
