Western Banded Snake-Eagle
Circaetus cinerascens
Chunky, dark brown raptor with barred underparts. Shows a single broad white band through the tail which is conspicuous in flight. Found in and around forest and thick woodland, often near water. Sits for long periods and doesn’t often soar. Generally scarce and uncommon across its range. Call is a weird, strangled “whaaat-hooooa.” Very similar to Fasciated Snake-Eagle, but doesn’t overlap in range. Somewhat similar to African Cuckoo-Hawk, but larger and chunkier, with a dark brown rather than gray head.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Circaetus cinerascens
- Authority
- Müller, JW, 1851
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Circaetus
Range and habitat
Western banded snake eagles live in woodlands, mainly along rivers, but they avoid dense forests.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Western banded snake eagles mainly hunt snakes, but also other small vertebrates, ambushing from a perch. They drop from the perch to trunk, foliage or ground. They are solitary birds, and very secretive. Due to their sedentary lifestyle, they are often detected only by their calls.<p>The western banded snake eagle sometimes rises to soar, while it calls above the canon. They utter a loud, high-pitched 'kok-kok-kok-kok-kok'.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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