Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Crested Eagle is not a very vocal species (Hilty and Brown 1986). The call has been compared to that of Great Black Hawk (Buteogallus urubitinga; Lehmann 1943). Descriptions of the call include "shrill, high-pitched whistle, sometimes 2-parted with second part higher in pitch (suggestive of Great Black Hawk" (Stiles and Skutch 1989); "a loud hawk-eagle-like scream, wheyr-wheyr-wheyr-wheyr-wheyr-whéyr-br" (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001b); and " a series of high, descending pure whistles" (Lane, in Schulenberg et al. 2010). At the nest, Bierregaard (1984) noted the adult giving a “shrill, high pitched whistle, reminiscent of a bosun’s whistle…Youuu-ree… the final note short and ascending”. He also noted that after copulation, the male gave a single high-pitched whistle. When the male brought food to the incubating female, he announced his arrival with a repeated similar call; the female responded with a "high-pitched, shrill wee hee", while pumping her wings with each syllable.

Additional audio recordings of vocalizations of Crested Eagle can be heard at Macaulay Library and at xeno-canto.

None reported.