and bush encroachment, the raptors second pair live on the west side of the which need pristine woodlands rather Cape Peninsula mountain chain, in the than those that have been burnt and Silvermine area of the Table Mountain city’s logged, and some, such as the harriers National Park, just north of Chapman’s and the African Fish-Eagle, which live Peak. There they have bred successfully Can Verreaux’s Eagles survive urbanisation? around the fringes of degraded and for three years, monitored weekly by drained wetlands. their finder and eagle-advocate Lucia What of our montane eagles? Can Rodrigues. These pairs share similarities species, such as Verreaux’s (Black) Eagles and differences that allow us to assess Aquila verreauxii, which live along- if Verreaux’s Eagles can survive human side man, continue to thrive in their encroachment. mountain retreats? Two closely studied When the Roodekrans pair began Below An adult Verreaux’s Eagle arrives limits examples, one from Johannesburg and to bring chickens to their nest, it was at its nest on the Roodekrans in the sub- the other from Cape Town, allow an apparent that the dassie (rock hyrax) urbs of Johannesburg. This pair of eagles insight into the effects of urbanisation populations had begun to decline in the has bred remarkably well over the past on eagles. area. It was no surprise, as urban sprawl decade, but they have become increas- The Roodekrans pair live in Johannes- had been consuming even dassie habitat ingly dependent on supplementary food burg on the fringes of the Walter Sisulu from the early 1990s. Because the eagle provided by local conservationists. National Botanical Garden. Since 1993 pair had stopped breeding, Woodcock’s they have been breeding there under Black Eagle Project stepped in to supple- Opposite The Silvermine Verreaux’s the watchful eye of the Black Eagle ment their diet with food such as das- Eagle pair, cruising over Chapman’s Peak Project, headed by Libby Woodcock. The sies, rabbits and birds. The efforts of  Drive, Table Mountain National Park.

MEIDAD GOREN The authorities of South Africa’s two largest cities have the opportunity to protect and encourage a superb natural occurrence – the pairs of Verreaux’s Eagles still to be found breeding within the green urban areas of Johannesburg and Cape Town.

ome raptors have done together. Elsewhere, Merlins and Long- extraordinarily well as hu- eared Owls have taken up residence mans change the habitat in cities in Canada, where they breed, around them. Some special- feed and thrive alongside a public often ised species, such as the Black unaware of their presence. Peregrines, Johannesburg SparrowhawksS of peninsular Cape possibly the best-known examples, Town, have been provided with nest- have managed to live high above the Roodekrans ing habitat (in the form of planta- normal hubbub of urban sprawl, breed- tions) and food in the form of a surfeit ing throughout their range on grain of doves (see Africa – Birds & Birding silos and many high-rise city buildings 9(2): 46-52, 2004). African Goshawks with a view.

Cape Town hunt through suburban gardens, prey- However, there are numerous spe- Port Elizabeth ing on small birds and doves supported cies that are not doing so well, as their courtesy of bird feeders and gardeners. habitat is degraded and their hunting Lesser Kestrels in the Karoo use isolated areas are destroyed. Among these are eucalyptus trees, often within suburban the vultures and other scavenging spe- areas, where thousands of them roost cies which run the gauntlet of poisons albert froneman

42 verreaux’s eagles africa – birds & birding june/july 2007 veRreaux’s eagles 43 the project have been rewarded, as birds have bred continuously since 1993, lay- ing the first known three-egg clutch ever recorded and achieving a high breed- ing success rate. From a conservation angle, the project no longer has to deal with irate chicken-owners demanding revenge on the eagles for taking a few fowl, as they did pre-2001. However, given that the population of dassies, the chief prey of Verreaux’s Eagle, has not returned for nearly 15 years – their usual long-term cycle – it seems that this pair may need continuous supplementary feeding if they are to survive. Is a similar story apparent for the Silvermine pair near Cape Town? According to raptor expert Peter Steyn, 20 years ago there were five to seven pairs of Verreaux’s Eagles breeding on Table Mountain, and many of their huge nests are still obvious today, recorded in the raptor surveys done by Andrew Jenkins and Anthony van Zyl. However, these surveys have shown that only two pairs of eagles are presently resident in the Table Mountain area. One pair fre- quents the front face of the mountain, around the cable car where dassies still occur; the other – the Silvermine pair – is the only pair on the mountain which has been recorded actively breeding in the past two years.

o, is urbanisation affecting the food supply of the eagles on the mountain? It is no coinci- dence that both pairs of eagles onS Table Mountain breed where hyrax populations remain intact. At least for the ‘cable car’ pair, visitors feed the das- sies and this appears to have stabilised the population sufficiently to support the eagles. This notwithstanding, bird prey, including pigeons and guinea- fowl, are sometimes delivered to the Silvermine nest, indicating a dearth of dassies in the general environment. Does human disturbance per se limit eagles breeding in urban areas? This has always worried the eagle-monitors at Silvermine, considering the publicity and increasing numbers of people watch- ing the eagles breeding below the 

Verreaux’s Eagle in flight. Can this toit

d u spectacular and remarkably adaptable predator persist in the face of urban

ric h ard development?

44 verreaux’s eagles africa – birds & birding june/july 2007 veRreaux’s eagles 45 pete oxford meidad goren The rock hyrax or dassie is the staple prey of Verreaux’s Eagles. The Silvermine pair seem singularly unperturbed by human activity This dassie was photographed at the upper cable station on in the vicinity of their nest on its Table Mountain stronghold. Table Mountain, a popular venue for tourists, dassies and eagles.

lookout. However, given the laissez-faire Zimbabwe. Both are heavily populated attitude of the female when she is brood- by rural communities which have deci- ing or incubating (barely even glancing mated local dassie populations. Thus it at the observers) and the male cruising seems probable that the lack of dassies by at eye-level and delivering prey at in urbanised environments has caused You can help.... regular intervals, current levels of human the decline of Verreaux’s Eagles around he Black Eagle Project at Roodekrans, activity around the Silvermine nest do South Africa’s largest cities, and that Tincorporating the Sisulu Urban Wildlife not appear to be an issue (although only food supplementation of the pairs Reserve Working Group, is a group of vol- SANParks staff sensibly close a popu- directly (or possibly indirectly, in the unteer conservationists working hard to lar paraglider and hang-glider launch case of the dassie population at the preserve the natural habitat surrounding site situated directly above the nest for cable car) might keep the eagles from the botanical garden. Typically, this requires the duration of the eagle breeding sea- disappearing from these areas. public support and financing – please sup- son). The nest has also been successful What is the future for these birds? We port this initiative as they urgently require for three consecutive years, providing know of no other African cities where funds for legal costs to stop encroaching a stream of passionate observers and Verreaux’s Eagles are regular within the urbanisation. If they are not successful in enthusiasts with amazing insights at no city limits. It may be wishful thinking halting or minimising development, it will obvious cost to the birds. That the cable to believe that the Roodekrans pair will only be a matter of time before the eagles car area is generally the busiest place survive further urbanisation and reduc- vacate their nest site in the Walter Sisulu on Table Mountain also argues against tions to their prey base as Johannesburg’s National Botanical Garden. For more infor- reasonable levels of indirect disturbance population further erodes its green mation, visit www.blackeagles.co.za or being a negative factor for ‘urban eagles’. spaces. However, the authorities of both e-mail [email protected]. So it appears that Table Mountain’s large Johannesburg and Cape Town metropo- The website is currently transmitting contingent of casual tourists and hikers lises should view the future survival of webcam images of the Roodekrans nest. are unlikely to account for the low breed- Verreaux’s Eagles in their cities as a meas- ing numbers of Verreaux’s Eagles there. ure of the success (or failure) of their abil- or more information about the There are two other areas in south- ity to save green urban spaces and retain FVerreaux’s Eagles on Cape Town’s Table ern Africa which spring immediately intact some of the biodiversity that has Mountain range, e-mail Lucia Rodrigues to mind where Verreaux’s Eagles occur long been associated with these cities of the Western Cape Raptor Research at unexpectedly low densities – the and is now in danger of being lost.  Programme at [email protected]. Lesotho Highlands and the unpro- Rob Simmons, Lucia Rodrigues, Libby tected fringes of the Matobo Hills in Woodcock, Peter Steyn & Andrew Jenkins

46 verreaux’s eagles africa – birds & birding