Juggler

Juggler

We are delighted that the Bonn-Tomburg Lions Club has taken over the sponsorship of the bateleur(Terathopius ecaudatus).

High up on the branch of a dead acacia tree, the bateleur overlooks the "savannah" on the left at the entrance to our permanent exhibition. It owes its German name to its acrobatic courtship flights, with its extremely short tail and long wings giving it an unmistakable appearance.

The bird of prey is widespread almost everywhere south of the Sahara, especially in open thornbush savannahs. However, despite its large distribution area, it is already on the IUCN's International Red List of Threatened Species. There are many reasons for this: in addition to the ever-increasing expansion of agricultural land, which in many places involves the use of pesticides and land degradation, the bateleur is particularly troubled by trappers for the international pet trade and poison traps, which are used to eradicate the "birds of prey" on commercial and small farms.
In addition, bateleurs only lay a single egg. The black-feathered birds with the erectable crest on the back of their heads and the striking red facial markings lay their nests in the canopy of large savannah trees.

Their wide range of food includes carrion, bird eggs, live insects and all kinds of vertebrates such as snakes and lizards. However, they prefer to hunt mammals and other birds such as hornbills or raptors. They owe their nickname "pirate" to their habit of stealing prey from other birds of prey.