---
title: "Vechtarend"
description: "Polemaetus bellicosus — Vogels. The martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/martial-eagle
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Vechtarend

> Polemaetus bellicosus — Vogels. The martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa.

- Scientific name: *Polemaetus bellicosus*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos), `savanna` (Savanne)
- iNaturalist observations: 4474
- Wikidata: [Q501733](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q501733)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5344](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5344)

## Names

- en: Martial Eagle
- de: Kampfadler
- es: Águila marcial
- fr: Aigle martial
- nl: Vechtarend
- pt: Águia-belicosa
- pl: Wojownik zbrojny

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (2209), KE (623), TZ (484), NA (220), BW (192), UG (131), MW (130), ZW (94), ZM (78), MZ (46), ET (14), BJ (12)

## Summary

The martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the only member of the genus Polemaetus. A species of the booted eagle subfamily (Aquilinae), it has feathers over its tarsus. One of the largest and most powerful species of booted eagle, it is a fairly opportunistic predator that varies its prey selection between mammals, birds and reptiles. It is one of few eagle species known to hunt primarily from a high soar, by stooping on its quarry. This species, an inhabitant of wooded belts of otherwise open savanna, has shown a precipitous decline in the last few centuries due…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_eagle

## Photo

![Vechtarend](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/martial-eagle/medium.jpg)

Photo: Andrew Deacon · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/252991322

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/martial-eagle?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).