[7] 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.

The eagle is also bold and ferocious; records documented from beneath a nest show the remains of a large male sooty mangabey weighing 11 kg (24 lb).

[3][17] Apparently, the Malagasy crowned eagle became extinct due mainly to the loss of prey and habitat change, attributable to early humans on the island.

The throat is brown while the belly and breast are white overlaid densely with blackish bars and blotches, variably marked with cream or rich buff-rufous coloration.

[9] In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the crowned eagle has been confirmed to survive at relatively high densities in protected areas that maintain dense, old-growth rainforests.

[36] In southern Africa, its distribution south of the Limpopo River coincides largely with montane forest, although it is not restricted to that habitat and may range secondarily into plantations, usually of eucalyptus.

[14][20] Ironically considering their otherwise hyperactive behavior, the main hunting techniques of crowned eagle require long periods of inactivity, spent sitting on a perch.

[25] In harpy and Philippine eagle, although these are less extensively studied, it may take a similar or even longer amount of time for the young to attain full independence.

[37] After engaging in the breeding display described above, the pair collaborate in building a massive nest in a fork of a large forest tree, typically from 12 to 45 m (40 to 150 ft) above the ground.

Despite the relative sparseness of this habitat, these sites have a varied and convoluted terrain, with nooks and crannies, valleys, overhangs and hideaways that allow a crowned eagle to exercise its particular hunting skills.

In Kenya, similar fractured landscapes can also be utilized by crowned eagles, such as the black gigantic volcanic rubble fields of Tsavo West National Park, the lower Chyulu Hills, Kibwezi and Soysambu Conservancy.

Due to the loud vocal interplay between the parents and the fledging eagle, the adults seem to take it as a sign that their offspring has sought independence if they return to the nesting area and hear no begging auditory response.

[9][47] Since there are no known actual tests in any African raptor of the pressure exerted via their grip, as has been done with some other large eagles, their power has been estimated from the size of the feet and talons and from the prey they typically select.

[50] On the other hand, in the rainforest community of Taï National Park in the Ivory Coast, the estimated average weight of prey for crowned eagles was clearly higher at 5.67 kg (12.5 lb).

[14] Crowned eagles are believed to take uneaten portions of prey up into the trees to cache around the nest or habitual perches so that the pieces can be consumed over the course of the next several days.

[9] If the prey is too heavy for taking flight with, even after dismemberment, for example, a bushbuck, crowned eagles have been known to cache food at the thickly vegetated base of a tree and only carry limbs to the nest.

[20] This type of strike-and-wait hunting technique may be used by diverse predators, from Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) to great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), which tend to track their victims by scent after biting them rather than sight and sound, but is virtually unprecedented in birds.

[12] The diet is, by necessity, more diverse in Kiwengwa/Pongwe Forest Reserve in the Matumbi Hills of Tanzania but the blue monkey was still the most represented prey species, making up 20% of the remains.

[63] Where they overlap in range, the vervet monkey can be quite prominent as prey for crowned eagles, as their relatively small size, diurnal and terrestrial habits may make them more vulnerable.

[63] Adults antelope of a similarly small size to the Suni, around 5 kg (11 lb) or slightly less, are readily hunted, such as Kirk's dik-dik (Madoqua kirkii) and the blue duiker (Philantomba monticola).

The martial eagle was reported in Tsavo East National Park to hunt mainly dik-diks and elsewhere has exceptionally killed large duiker weighing up to 37 kg (82 lb).

[20] Both Aquila take mainly neonatal lambs and deer fawns but can attack adult sheep and other large prey (i.e. full-grown kangaroos, emus, pronghorns, reindeer, etc.).

[20][61][77][63] Adult eagles will only resort to hunting large birds when mammals are scarce, but in southern Africa, they can be a fairly common component of the diet.

[97][98] While the reptiles usually hunt on the ground or near water, felids, large monitor lizards and baboons can be assured thieves who will climb trees and take crowned eagle kills.

[51] In South Africa, it is reported that Cape porcupines and bushpigs (Potamochoerus larvatus) are attracted to trees used for prey consumption by crowned eagles, in order to scavenge the sinew and bone that's discarded to the ground.

[42] In more mixed eastern and southern habitats, the diversity of large predators is higher and the crowned eagle, despite its great power, is not assured at the top of the avian food chain.

[104] In the famed Taung deposit in South Africa, a skull from a child Australopithecus africanus, a possible ancestor of human beings, led to considerable speculation.

[9] This species main habitat is rich, high-canopy forest, which is a major target of timber companies, agriculturists, palm oil and biofuel plantations and miners as well as slash and burn farmers.

A charcoal-based economy outdoes mineral-based economics in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zaire, both fuel wars and makes inroads deep into previously virgin forests.

[20] Due to their high-strung dispositions, tendency for aggression towards humans and resistance to hunting prey via coercion and hunger, the crowned eagle is often considered to be poorly suited for falconry.