Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks
Long-crested Eagle
Lophaetus occipitalis
- Family
- Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks (Accipitridae)
- Order
- Accipitriformes
Overview
The long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis) is an African bird of prey characterised by its shaggy crest of feathers. In the family Accipitridae which includes all the eagles, it is currently placed in a monotypic genus Lophaetus. It is found throughout mid- and southern Africa, with differing home ranges due to food availability and suitable habitat area, but lives mainly on forest edges and near moist areas. Breeding may occur at any time of year, depending on food availability; it lays 1 or 2 eggs as is usual for raptors.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Savanna of sub-Saharan Africa.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Continents
Countries
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Côte d'Ivoire
- DR Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Long-crested eagle
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
