EAST AURORA NY — Eagles in the wild epitomize the freedom and power of nature. Graceful while soaring, eagles are at the same time unmatched predators, with almost no natural predators other than humans.
Despite their strength and beauty, more than 30 eagle species — nearly half of all species of eagles — are considered vulnerable, threatened, or endangered.
The Verreaux's Eagle, or African black eagle, is native to a limited region, mostly South Africa.
Onyx is a new resident at Hawk Creek Wildlife Center. Born out west earlier this year, he's been a member of the Hawk Creek family since he was four weeks old.
"He comes to us all the way from Oklahoma, from our partners, SIA, which is the Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological Initiative. They are leading eagle conservation experts from around the world. They have partnerships around the world working to conserve eagles globally," said Tanya Lowe, Hawk Creek's curator and education director.
The Verreaux's eagle is one of Africa's largest. Onyx is an immature bird (about eight months old), and his beautiful plumage now will look much different in a few years.
"He is going to lose that over the next four years, and it will be interesting to see him as he changes his plumage," explains Lowe. "Typically it takes about four to five years, just like our bald eagles, for them to get their adult plumage. [It's] going to be jet black with yellow marks around the face, his eyes, his beak, his feet, and a white 'v' on his back."
Lowe says these eagles are one of the few to hunt together, teaming up to pursue their main and very specific prey, a groundhog-like mammal called the rock hyrax.
"The Verreaux's eagle is one of the few eagles that truly hunts cooperatively. Often, it's one of a pair. They live in pairs. One of the pair will go and start soaring, and the rock hyrax will be so focused on that bird that's visible and soaring, they miss its partner that's waiting and using the lay of the land to fly low to the ground and around objects to sneak up on the hyrax," said Lowe.
Now Onyx will work in tandem with his human caregivers to act as an ambassador. He is already charming young children lucky enough to meet him.
"These children were so engaged in learning about him, and they were just so drawn in by his personality that the teaching moment was laid out right on a platter for me," said Lowe.
Lowe believes that those opportunities to inspire are the thing that make animal ambassadors so crucial in environmental education — regal predators, unable to return to the wild, acting as emissaries and creating new stewards in the process.
"This creates a personal connection that creates empathy for other living beings, and that is something, when you watch the news, you can see we need in this world more than ever. So to have the opportunity to cultivate that in our youth is an amazing privilege and an honor not to be wasted," said Lowe.
To learn more about Hawk Creek Wildlife Center, click here
To learn more about SIA, click here