Beaudouin's Snake-Eagle
Circaetus beaudouini
Chunky dark brown raptor with a white belly marked by thin bars. Immatures are brown when perched, and show rufous patches in the underwing in flight. Found in savanna habitats. Soars frequently and sometimes hovers. Very similar to Short-toed Snake-Eagle, but has darker upperparts and narrower dark bars on the belly; the front of the underwings looks white and unbarred in flight. Immature similar to immature Black-breasted and Short-toed Snake-Eagles, but identified by the rufous patches on the underwings.
Identification
The bird has a wingspan of 170 cm (67 in). A large snake eagle with grey-brown upperparts, including the head and chest, contrasting with white underparts barred with brown and white vent. It has a black bill and large, bright yellow eyes with long pale grey, unfeathered legs. Juveniles are all dark.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Circaetus beaudouini
- Authority
- Verreaux, J & des Murs, 1862
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Circaetus
Range and habitat
In a narrow band from Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Gambia through southern Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger, northern Nigeria and Cameroon, southern Chad, Central African Republic and South Sudan. It has been recorded in Uganda but its status is uncertain in Kenya. There may be some nomadic movements, it appears to move southwards during the dry season and northwards during the rains. Open woodlands, wooded savanna and cultivation.
- Migration
- Nomadic movement
Behavior
Normally seen on a prominent perch such as a telegraph pole or dead tree, as it is a sit-and-wait hunter, rather than in flight but generally behaviour is poorly known. The diet mainly consists of snakes and other small vertebrates. It breeds in November to March in West Africa in a small stick nest at up to 25 m (82 ft) in the top of a tree. The clutch is usually a single egg. Incubation period is probably around 45 days with a fledging period which may be a further 70 days.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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