The Bateleur is a medium-sized eagle with very distinctive plumage. The dark colours make them difficult to photograph in the harsh Kalahari light. However, if you find them during the “golden hour” of early morning or late afternoon, they glow and you can capture the beauty of the feathers.

A Bateleur enjoying the late afternoon sun ©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com

A close-up of the wing feathers ©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
The Bateleur is named after the French for “tightrope walker” as it spends most of the day up in the sky, riding the air current and rocking from side-to-side.

©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
The adult Bateleur plumage only develops after seven to eight years. Juveniles are a mottled brown.

A juvenile Bateleur eating a dove for breakfast. ©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com

©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com

©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com

©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com

©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
For more info and stories about the Kalahari see Kalahari Series I – 2009 and Kalahari Series II – 2011.