dassievanger, noun

Origin:
South African DutchShow more South African Dutch, dassie see dassie + vanger catcher (see quotation 1867).
The black eagle, Aquila verreauxii.
Note:
This name has also been associated, perhaps mistakenly, with the bateleur, Terathopius ecaudatus: see berghaan sense 2.
1867 E.L. Layard Birds of S. Afr. 11Aquila Verreauxii...Dassie Vanger and Berghaan of Colonists...It is called ‘Dassie Vanger’ (coney-eater) and ‘Berghaan’ (mountain cock) by the Colonists..from feeding principally on the coney, or rock-rabbit.
1918 S.H. Skaife Animal Life in S. Afr. 237The black eagle, or dassievanger,..is said to be very fond of dassies,..but it will often attack small buck and even sheep and lambs.
1920 F.C. Cornell Glamour of Prospecting 124An absolute silence, unbroken except the occasional scream of a dassie vanger, as the big eagles are called that sweep round the slopes of the peaks in search of an unwary rock-rabbit.
1955 L.G. Green Karoo 101The dassie colonies are often menaced from the sky when a Verreaux’s eagle (known as the dassievanger) swoops down on a fat, sun-loving dassie.
1973 J. Cowden For Love 39Aquila verreauxi is known in South Africa as the Black Eagle, Witkruis arend.., Dassie-vanger (dassie catcher) and, by the Zulus, as uKozi.
The black eagle, Aquila verreauxii.
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18671973