Chick born to famed eagles

It’s official: Roodekrans’ black eagle pair are proud parents.

A new eaglet is the latest addition to Johannesburg’s most famous black eagle family.

Black Eagle Project Roodekrans chairperson Gerald Draper confirmed that an egg had hatched at the nest at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort, Gauteng.

“Sugarbush Ridges Coalition rangers managed to get a glimpse of the chick on Sunday.

“After reporting that an egg had most likely been laid on either 18 or 19 April, we expected hatching to occur in the first few days of June,” Draper said.

He said this would be the first chick for mother Makatsa and father Mahlori, which means “miracle”.

Mahlori made the gardens his home on 13 July last year after the previous male, Thulani, disappeared at the beginning of June, leaving Makatsa alone with a newly hatched chick.

The chick died at the beginning of August.

Thulani had been living in the gardens since 1998, while Makatsa has been there since 2016.

Black eagles normally lay two eggs, four days apart, and only one chick ultimately survives after what is known as a Cain and Abel struggle, during which the stronger – and in most cases the older – sibling kills the other.

Draper said: “This is the first time that this particular couple have had a chick together, although it is Makatsa’s fourth since moving to the gardens.

“Black eagles are typically winter breeders.

“They tend to nest on open cliffs, which means that they are more prone to suffer from heat than from cold.

“Should all go well over the next three months, the juvenile black eagle will possibly fledge in the first week of September if it is a male, or a little later if it is a female.

“Although lockdown regulations curtailing movement are frustrating, the volunteers on the project are ecstatic with the news, and are looking forward to resuming their monitoring duties as soon as possible,” he added. – News24 Wire