I have made the order and now waiting for the CITES and all the necessary document. Hopefully everthing is fine and I can get a good quality bird soonest…

Here is some information about african hawk eagle in wiki.

The African Hawk Eagle (Aquila spilogastra) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae.

The African Hawk Eagle breeds in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a bird of wooded hills, building a stick nest about 3 feet (almost 1 meter) in diameter in the fork of a large tree. The clutch is generally one or two eggs.

This is a small to medium-sized eagle at about 55–65 cm in length. The upper parts are blackish. Its underparts are white heavily streaked with black. The underwing flight feathers are white with a black trailing edge. The underwing coverts are mostly black with white spots.

Sexes are similar, but young birds are brown above and rufous coloration replaces the black underparts of the adult.

The African Hawk Eagle hunts small mammals, reptiles, and birds up to the size of a francolin. The call is a shrill kluu-kluu-kluu.

Once I got my African Hawk Eagle… the fun will start again… I will try to post the update about the training and hunting…

Here is some photo of the eagle…

The MAG: Science North talks turkey – Science in the North

It may be Thanksgiving, but let me assure you this column has nothing to do with the holiday. Actually, the science facts contained in this write-up could possibly make some people a little queasy (especially if shared around the supper table).

This article is all about the Turkey vulture, a fascinating bird which scavenges for food and has developed some interesting tactics for defending itself and keeping its body cool.

The Turkey vulture, which can be seen up-close this weekend at Science North as part of the Animals of the Great Lakes presentation in the Inco Cavern,

is a resident of Ontario. It has dark brown to black plumage, a featherless, purplish- red head and neck and a short, hooked, ivorycoloured beak.

It’s a big bird, too, weighing up to about two kilograms and has a wingspan that stretches between 173 to 183 centimetres.

The Turkey vulture’s body build makes it clumsy and awkward on the ground. Its walk is more of a hop, and taking flight requires a lot more hopping and plenty of wing flapping. However, once in the air, the Turkey vulture is extremely graceful and uses little effort. Tipping from side to side while in flight, the Turkey vulture barely flaps its wings and takes advantage of rising thermal columns (rising air) to soar.

Unlike most of its avian counterparts, the Turkey vulture has a keen sense of smell and can detect the scent of a rotting carcass from kilometres away. While this may sound disgusting to us, to a Turkey vulture, this is as inviting as any home-cooked holiday meal can be.

Turkey vultures are scavengers and rely almost entirely on carrion (dead animal carcasses) as a food source.

When it comes to defending themselves, or a carcass they’ve just found, Turkey vultures have adapted a unique way of warding off challengers. Since they do not have a syrinx (the vocal organ of bird) they can only hiss and produce low grunts. Not too scary, right? However come too close and you might be regurgitated upon. A Turkey vulture’s primary form of defense is to regurgitate semi-digested meat. If the foul smell isn’t enough to turn challengers away, the vomit can also sting the eyes.

Finally, there’s the way this bird cools itself down when the heat is on. A Turkey vulture excretes on its own legs, and uses the evaporation of the water in the mutes (feces and/or urine) to cool itself. The process is known as urohydrosis. Vultures, condors and storks all use this form of natural “air conditioning.”

Today and Sunday, the Turkey vulture, along with a caribou, a Golden Eagle and a skunk, will be at Science North. These animals will be presented during the hands-on and interactive sessions that will be held in the Inco Cavern. The animal presentations are free for Science North members and included with Science Centre admission. For a schedule, visit sciencenorth.ca/animals.

Busy preening itself on a rooftop in Scholar’s Walk, Rushall, the bird was photographed by shocked resident Susan Baker on her digital camera.

She said: “I went upstairs into the bedroom and glanced out of the window and saw it on the roof. It was quite a distance away but you could still see it was big.

“It was there for about 20 minutes before flying off in the direction of Aldridge and Brownhills.”

Mrs Baker added: “It was a total shock, the only time I have seen something like that before is in a Western film when you see them feeding on dead animals in the middle of nowhere. You don’t expect to see a vulture in Walsall.”

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) spokesman Ciaran Nelson has also seen the photographs of the sighting in Walsall.

He said: “We think it’s probably a black vulture – an American species.” We’ve some cracking birds of prey in England, but nothing that really compares to a vulture in terms of size.

“So I can imagine this must have been a bit of a shock for Susan when she spotted it.

“Someone else is also likely to be looking for this bird, though, as he or she is clearly an escapee from someone’s collection.”

He added: “We regularly get peregrine falcons in our city centres nowadays, but as for vultures in the suburbs – I think we’ve a few years to wait before that’s ever likely.”

The vulture was photographed on Tuesday, September 30, at 9.50am.

Wildlife parks such as West Midlands Safari Park, Dudley Zoo and others in the area said they knew nothing of an escaped vulture.

Vultures seldom attack healthy animals, but may kill the wounded or sick.

Vast numbers have been seen upon battlefields throughout history.

They gorge themselves on prey and sit, sleeping to digest their food.

Vultures are one of the fastest declining birds in the world.

*******

Baby vulture overlooked in giraffe frenzy

A Eurasian black vulture chick has hatched at The Living Desert — the only such chick to hatch in captivity this year in the United States, zoo officials announced Friday.

Liz Hile, the zoo’s curator of animals, said it is an endangered species, as most vulture species are at this point.

The chick hatched May 16, when so much attention was focused on the birth of the zoo’s baby giraffe, Maliki.

The vulture is now out of the nest and flying in its enclosure, said Peter Siminski, director of conservation and education.

“They have a 10-foot wing span and weigh 15 to 20 pounds. That’s huge for a flying bird,” Siminski said.

Vultures grow quickly. The chick is now a juvenile, almost as big as its parents, he said.

There are thought to be fewer than 4,000 black vultures in the world, according to the zoo. Black vultures are severely threatened due to hunting, poisoning and habitat destruction, much like their North American counterpart, the California condor.

Zoo officials don’t know the sex of the chick, but soon will be giving it a blood test to find out, Siminski said.

Before the chick “fledged,” or left the nest, its parents shared parenting responsibilities, Hile said.

“The male is ‘Mr. Mom,’” she said, “appearing to do most of the work, from building the nest to sitting on the egg and feeding the chick.”

A rare Eurasian black vulture has hatched at the Living Desert, zoo officials said Friday. It is the only such chick to hatch in captivity this year in the U.S. (Courtesy of the Living Desert)

Eurasian black vulture facts

Both sexes look alike. Males are often smaller than females.

They are found in the mountainous areas of Spain, the Himalayas of India and Tibet, east to northeast Mongolia and Sudan, and occasionally in southern China, northern India, and on Mount Everest.

Usually pairs breed for life. A single egg is laid per mating.
They feed on medium- to large-sized carrion and occasionally hunt live prey, such as lizards and tortoises. In captivity, they eat a meat-based diet made for zoo animals and small rodents and fowl.

DENVER (AP): The Denver Zoo has a newly hatched Andean condor, only the second condor to hatch at a zoo anywhere in the world over the past year, officials said.

The Denver condor, a male, hatched May 13. He and his parents are the zoo’s only condors.

Andean condors are an endangered species and came close to extinction in the 1970s, the zoo said. There are estimated to be only a few thousand of the giant birds in the wild, while 74 live in captivity in North America.

When Denver’s new condor matures, he will either be taken to another zoo for breeding — most likely in Europe or South America — or if he is a good candidate, he may be considered for a program in Colombia that releases the birds into the wild, Denver Zoo spokeswoman Amy Sarno said Thursday.

A mature condor has a wingspan of 11 feet (3.4 meters) and stands about 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall. They generally grow to about 30 pounds (14 kilograms) and can live up to 50 years.

The Denver chick weighed only a half a pound (23 grams) when it was born but has already grown to nearly 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms). Both parents incubated the egg and cared for the newborn, which is in the species’ nature, the zoo said. Both will likely care for the chick during its first year or two of life.

Condors are native to the Andes Mountains in western South America. They are a national symbol for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Description: Andean Condors are one of the largest flying birds in the world, weighing 9-12 kg. They have very broad wings with a span of over 3 m. In spite of their weight, the great wing surface allows them to soar on rising air currents almost indefinitely. The birds are black with white patches on the wings and a white ruff around the neck. Their heads are naked, but the male has a fleshy comb. Males have brown eyes; females have garnet red eyes. They have been known to live more than 75 years in captivity.

Distribution and Habitat: The Andean Condor was once found in the Andes Mountains of South America from Venezuela to the islands of Tierra del Fuego in the Strait of Magellan. They have been extirpated from many parts of their former range. They are generally confined to areas where strong winds are available to support their soaring flight. These habitats include; deserts that produce strong thermals, high mountains with deflected winds off the steep slopes, and coasts where sea breezes deflect off dunes.

Diet: Condors are scavengers or carrion feeders. They soar aloft, a highly energy efficient method of hunting, watching for carcasses. They have excellent eyesight and watch the actions of other animals as clues to food. They are not equipped to hunt as their feet have blunt claws instead of the sharp talons of raptors. The beak is strong but is best adapted to tear meat that is already rotting. They clean their naked heads by scraping them along the ground to remove debris from their meals. Inland on the pampas or the slopes of the Andes, they feed on carcasses of farm animals or wild ungulates. On the coast they feed on the beached carcasses of marine mammals and raid sea bird colonies for eggs and nestlings.

Reproduction: The male begins his courtship display by drawing himself erect, fully extending his wings, and clicking his tongue, while the reddish skin of his neck becomes bright yellow. The birds do not build a nest, but lay their eggs on bare ground on a ledge or in a cave. The female lays a single egg which both parents incubate for about 54-58 days. Fledging takes another 180 days so that a pair only breeds every other year under normal conditions. Parents continue to care for the fledgling for a full year.

Conservation: The Andean Condor is officially listed as endangered, although it has greater numbers than its California relation. Biologists estimate that a few thousand birds remain in the wild, concentrated mostly along the southern portion of their historic range. Threats are illegal shooting, habitat disturbance, poisoning from lead shot in carcasses, or poison placed for mammalian predators. The Zoo participates in the Species Survival Plan for Andean Condors. Thirty-nine Andean Condors reared in North American facilities have been reintroduced to the wild in Columbia and Venezuela. Early reports from the field indicate that some of these released birds have begun to breed. The work that preceded the attempt to breed California Condors in captivity, which has been very successful so far, was modeled on Andean Condors, from hand puppets that were used to feed the chicks through to the final release techniques.

I hope the information that I found is benefited to you too.

(source: http://www.audubon.org /bird  /BoA/F1_G1b.html )

This species  is far from being known throughout the United States, for it has never been seen farther eastward than the confines of New Jersey. None, I believe, have been observed in New York; and on asking about it in Massachusetts and Maine, I found that, excepting those persons acquainted with our birds generally, none knew it. On my late northern journeys I nowhere saw it. A very few remain and spend the winter in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where I have seen them only during summer, and where they breed. As we proceed farther south, they become more and more abundant. They are equally attached to maritime districts, and the vicinity of the sea-shore, where they find abundance of food.

The Turkey-Buzzard was found in abundance on the Rocky Mountains and along the Columbia river by LEWIS and CLARK, as well as subsequently by Mr. TOWNSEND, although it is said by Mr. DAVID DOUGLAS to be extremely rare on the north-west coast of America. On the Island of Galveston in Texas, where it is plentiful, we several times found its nest, as usual, on the ground, but on level parts of salt marshes, either under the widespread branches of cactuses, or among tall grass growing beneath low bushes, on which Herons of different species also bred, their young supplying a plentiful store of food for those of the Vultures. The eggs, which never exceed two in number, measure two inches and seven-eighths in length, and one inch and seven and a half eighths in their greatest breadth.

The flight of the Turkey-Buzzard is graceful compared with that of the Black Vulture. It sails admirably either high or low, with its wings spread beyond the horizontal position, and their tips bent upward by the weight of the body. After rising from the ground, which it does at a single spring, it beats its wings only a very few times, to enable it to proceed in its usual way of sailing. Like the Black Vultures, they rise high in the air, and perform large circles, in company with those birds, the Fork-tailed Hawk, Mississippi Kite, and the two species of Crow. The Hawks, however, generally teaze them, and force them off toward the ground.

They are gregarious, feed on all sorts of food, and suck the eggs and devour the young of many species of Heron and other birds. In the Floridas, I have, when shooting, been followed by some of them, to watch the spot where I might deposit my game, which, if not carefully covered, they would devour. They also eat birds of their own species, when they find them dead. They are more elegant in form than the Black Vultures, and walk well on the ground or the roofs of houses. They are daily seen in the streets of the southern cities, along with their relatives, and often roost with them on the same trees. They breed on the ground, or at the bottom of hollow trees and prostrate trunks, and lay only two eggs. These are large, of a light cream-colour, splashed toward the great end with large irregular markings of black and brown. The young somewhat resemble those of the Black Vulture, and take a long time before they can fly. Both species drink water freely, and in doing this immerse their bill to the base, and take a long draught at a time. They both breed at the same period, or nearly so, and raise only one brood in the season.

I have found birds of this species apparently very old, with the upper parts of their mandibles, and the wrinkled skin around their eyes, so diseased as to render them scarcely able to feed amongst others, all of which seldom failed to take advantage of their infirmities. I have represented the adult male in full plumage, along with a young bird, procured in the autumn of its first year. The average weight of a full grown bird is 6 1/2 lbs., about 1 lb. less than that of the Carrion Crow.

TURKEY-VULTURE or TURKEY-BUZZARD, Vultur Aura, Wils., vol.ix. p. 96.
CATHARTES AURA, Bonap. Syn., p. 22.
CATHARTES AURA, TURKEY-VULTURE, Rich. & Swains., F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 4.
TURKEY-VULTURE or TURKEY-BUZZARD, Nuttall, Man., vol. ii. p. 43.
TURKEY-BUZZARD, Cathartes Aura, Aud., vol. ii. p. 296; vol. v. p. 339.

In the adult, the head and upper part of the neck are destitute of feathers, having a red wrinkled skin, sparsely covered with short black hair, and downy behind. Feathers of the neck full and rounded concealing the naked crop. Wings ample, long; the first quill rather short, the third and fourth longest. Tail longish, rounded, of twelve broad straight feathers.

Bill at the tip yellowish-white; the cere and the naked part of the head of a tint approaching to blood-red. Iris dark brown. Feet flesh-coloured, tinged with yellow; claws black. The general colour of the plumage is blackish-brown, deepest on the neck and under parts, the wing-coverts broadly margined with brown; the back glossed with brown and greenish tints; the tail purplish-black; the under parts of a sooty brown, on the breast glossed with green.

Length 32 inches; extent of wings 6 feet 4 inches; bill 2 1/2 along the ridge, 2 2/12 along the gap; tarsus 2 1/2, middle toe 3 1/2.

Young fully fledged.
The bill is, of course, shorter and more slender, its horny tip pale blue, black on the back; the skin of the head is flesh-coloured, the iris yellowish, the feet flesh-coloured. The plumage is nearly of the same colour as in the adult.