About the Mountain Hawk-Eagle
The mountain hawk-eagle or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself in the Himalayas. A less widely recognized common English name is the feather-toed eagle. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. Its feathered tarsus marks this species as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae. It is a confirmed breeding species in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, from India, Nepal through Bangladesh to Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan, although its distribution could be wider still as breeding species. Like other Asian hawk-eagles,…
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
Voice: Mountain hawk-eagles are silent apart from their breeding season. Their call is a shrill treble note, with a quality often compared to a penny whistle. Their typical call is often likened to the klu-weet-weet of a green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) or the kee-kikik of the common green magpie (Cissa chinensis). Sometimes the call is written in Japan as pie-pie-pie or pipipi.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in April · a variable species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Learn the Mountain Hawk-Eagle for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.