Eagle Sanctuary

You will see eagles in many places throughout Langkawi. After all the name of the island was given after the red-brown eagle. Helang in Malay means Eagle and Kawi is a reddish brown color. The reddish-brown eagle (also known as the Brahminy kite) is the most common form of eagle you will find here.

You will also see many White Bellied Eagles in Langkawi as well which are larger in size. The main feeding areas of the reddish-brown eagles are in the Kilim River area at the north-east end which is part of the Kilim Geopark and also the water area near Pulau Singa Besar located south of the main island.

This is an amazing sight where a large number of eagles circle the sky and dive into the river to catch their food. You will watch this for about 20 minutes while sitting on the boat. When you reach a calm water area surrounded by dense forest, the boatman turns off the engine to eliminate the noise, goes to the back of the boat with a bag full of chicken skins and starts throwing fruit into the water.

The eagles here seem to know when the boats are around they will have a feast on offer. Look at the sky and you will see many eagles circling. And then they will start to dive down to catch their food floating on the water and take off in the moment spit. Watch carefully … as soon as they take the skin of the chicken with their claws, they start eating it in flight itself leaving no chance for their competitors to participate. Eagles have great vision and can really find the center of a target such as a fish or a small rodent from a distance of 1 – 3 km.

When they dive, they can move at a speed of 200 km per hour and take prey that can be up to 6 lbs, more than their own body weight. While eating, at any given time you will see 30-40 eagles hovering in the sky and swooping down as soon as they identify their target. Eagle population in Kilim Geopark has continued to increase.