Crowned Eagle

Open encyclopedia reference

The crowned eagle, also known as the African crowned eagle or the crowned hawk-eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus), is a large bird of prey found in sub-Saharan Africa; in Southern Africa, it is restricted to more easterly areas. Its preferred habitats are principally riparian woodlands and various forests. The crowned eagle is the only extant member of the genus Stephanoaetus. A second species, the Malagasy crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus mahery), went extinct after early humans settled on Madagascar. Mammals comprise the majority of the eagle's diet. Principal prey species vary throughout its large range, with monkeys, antelopes, rodents, hyraxes, and viverrids all being notable prey groups. Other wild mammals recorded as prey include bushpigs, pangolins, and bats. Birds are also a considerable component of the diet in some populations. In an urban population in Durban, South Africa, camera traps at nest sites revealed that 25% of prey items were birds, of which 17% were hadada ibis juveniles. In Taï, Côte d'Ivoire, trumpeter hornbills comprised 8% of prey. Reptiles and carrion are occasionally consumed.

Wikipedia contributors, Crowned eagle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:19:35.851590+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Stephanoaetus coronatus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1766)

Common name

Crowned Eagle

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Accipitriformes

Family

Accipitridae

Genus

Stephanoaetus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderAccipitriformes
10. familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
11. genusStephanoaetus W. L. Sclater, 1922
12. speciesStephanoaetus coronatus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 170 records assigned to Accipitridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563141 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:52BWJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.