Mountain Hawk-Eagle

Mountain Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis) is a large, powerful Asian forest eagle with a prominent crest, broad barred wings, a long banded tail and fully feathered lower legs. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits wooded mountains from the Himalayas east to Japan, hunting birds and mammals from concealed perches and building a large stick nest high in a forest tree. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).