Species Spotlight

Species Spotlight: Changeable Hawk-eagle

September 12, 2025 by Kai Pflug 1 Comment

The Changeable Hawk-eagle is among the more interesting-looking raptors. The common and the scientific names both reflect this.

The “Changeable” refers to individual birds showing a wide range of variation in plumage from pale to dark that also varies with moult and age (source).

The scientific name Nisaetus cirrhatus characterizes the bird as “curly-haired” (cirrhatus).

Apparently, ChatGPT is not widely used at HNG University, Patan, Gujarat, India. How else to explain – in a paper on a sighting of a Changeable Hawk-eagle described in Prithivya, an online journal dedicated to wildlife and conservation biology – of sentences such as “Changeable Hawk-eagle sighting in the North Gujarat is may be one of the strong reasons due to lack of food and habitat they dispersed and finding the other places for their survival and suitable place for breeding also” or “After 10 minutes eagle was flied from the branch and sat on nearby tree”. Yes, I know I have a mean streak in me.

In another paper that a lobbying group for the species, the International Association for Truthful Reporting on the Social Life of Changeable Hawk-eagles (Truth Social, in short), tried to suppress, a researcher reported on scavenging by the species. If you want to see the bird feeding on a langur or a spotted deer carcass (your choice), see here.

Preying on live animals is more common, of course – for example, on rhesus macaque, as described here …

… or on Madras treeshrew.

A riskier prey item is domesticated chicken, which has resulted in persecution in parts of India (source).

While the species is not particularly endangered (it is listed as Least Concern), individual breeding pairs still seem to take precautions. One paper describes how a pair chose a tree with three nests of Giant Honey Bees and hypothesizes that this is not a coincidence but rather a deliberate way to protect the nest from ground predators and possibly even other birds.

All photos taken in Sri Lanka in March 2025

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 21 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well.He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.