The Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis) was an unexpected find that Saturday afternoon. There is a farm located off the old road from Batang Kali, Selangor to Genting Highlands, Pahang. Crossing State borders was still prohibited by the Malaysian Government. Luckily, this farm was within the Selangor borders. I was walking on a pebbled road which leads to the farm, when this magnificent raptor flew across and towards the valley beyond. I had less than 2 minutes to observe it before it disappeared from my view. Lady Luck was with me that day when this eagle made a second appearance later in the evening. It is described in eBird HERE as appearing dark from a distance, but on closer inspection has pale barrings on primaries, secondaries and undertails and bright yellow bill and feet. A map in Xeno-canto has a sound recording of a Black Eagle from Fraser Hill (Selangor-Pahang border) HERE. When I first saw the Black Eagle, it had an all-black appearance and was large, which reminded me of the official colour and huge players from the famous New Zealand rugby team. The All-Blacks of NZ perform their famous war dance before their matches which can be watched HERE. The full list of the birds seen or heard during that short walk at the farm in Batang Kali, Selangor is available HERE.
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| Yellow feet of this Black Eagle is visible in this picture above |
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| Five "fingers" on the right wing of this Black Eagle as pictured above |
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| All-Black appearance above - reminding me of the official colour of the famous rugby team from New Zealand:) |
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| The pale barrings on the secondaries of this Black Eagle are visible as pictured above |
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| The Black Eagle was seen circling in the skies behind this patch of forest |
Good find TQ
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