falling almost to the ground, an action that was once thought to be part of breeding displays but is now generally considered territorial in nature. The territory of martial eagles can vary greatly in size. The average home range is estimated to be in east Africa and southern Africa, with mean distances between nests of approximately . In Kruger National Park, the average home range of pairs is with an average nest-spacing of . In Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia, the home range size was per pair. Within Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, South Africa, nest spacing ranged from in the Auob river basin to in the interior dunes area. In the Nyika Plateau of northern Malawi, the average nest spacing was , with only one martial eagle nest recorded in an area that contained four crowned eagle nests. In protected areas of west Africa, the average home range size of martial eagles is about . Somewhat surprisingly, considering their relative scarcity in west Africa overall in comparison in east and southern Africa, home ranges may be just as large in some parts of Kenya, at up to , and the largest known home ranges sizes known come from southern Africa. These are from Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park where the home ranges may be anywhere from , with average spacing between nests of . By the 1990s, approximately 100 pairs were estimated to breed in Hwange. This disparity in territory sizes are likely due to regional differences in food supply, persecution rates and habitat disturbance. Breeding Martial eagles may breed in various months in the different parts of their range. They are considered a fairly early breeder compared to the average for sub-Saharan Africa birds of prey but breed much less early than bateleurs. The mating season is in November through April in Senegal, January to June in Sudan, August to July in northeast Africa and almost any month in east Africa and southern Africa, though mostly in April–November. The breeding season may thus begin in various parts of the range in a wet season or the earlier or later part of the local dry season so that no part of the brooding stage will occur during heavy rains. They build their nests in large trees, often larger than other trees in the woodlot. The nest is usually placed them in the main fork of tree at off the ground, though nests