Southern Banded Snake-Eagle
Circaetus fasciolatus
Chunky dark brown raptor with barred underparts. Found in and adjacent to forest, thick woodland, and exotic tree plantations, 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 ho-ho-ho-haaa”. Very similar to Banded Snake-Eagle, but no overlap in range. Somewhat similar to African Cuckoo-Hawk, but larger and chunkier, with a dark brown rather than gray head.
Identification
The southern banded snake eagle is a rather small, stocky snake eagle with a large, rounded head which has a hooded beak. It has a grey-brown head contrasting slightly with the mainly blackish-brown upperparts and whitish underparts. The tail has a white tip and shows three distinct dark bands on the underside. The large eyes are pale yellow eyes, the feet and cere are yellow and the bill us black. The juvenile lacks the grey head, has mainly dark upperparts and the whitish pale underparts are marked with dark streaks on the face, throat and upper breast. The total length varies from 55 to 60 cm with females larger than males.<p>The southern banded snake eagle is unobtrusive and is normally found due to its noisy, high-pitched call, "ko-ko-ko-kaw", repeatedly made either from a perch or while in flight.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Circaetus fasciolatus
- Authority
- Kaup, 1847
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Circaetus
Range and habitat
The southern banded snake eagle occurs in a narrow band along the east African coast from southern Somalia to the north eastern Kwazulu-Natal and inland along the Save River into south eastern Zimbabwe. The southern banded snake eagle is a forest species and it mainly occurs in evergreen coastal forest but also in dense inland forests close to wetlands, it is occasionally recorded from more open areas of woodland.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Brown Trembler
Cinclocerthia ruficauda
A bright-eyed, hefty billed bird of forests and scrublands. Tends to hold its tail cocked up and wings drooped, especially when feeding. Typically appears almost entirely warm brown; dark above and paler below with some gray on head. Gray Trembler lacks the brown hues of Brown Trembler and has some degree of white below. White-breasted Thrasher has largely bright white underparts and a dark red eye (not yellow as in Brown Trembler). Song is a slow jumble of rich whistles and high-pitched sibilant notes. Calls include scattered whistles and harsh scolding notes.
Ruddy Treerunner
Margarornis rubiginosus
This small forest bird is bright rufous overall with an obvious white throat and eyebrow. Similar to various spinetails and foliage-gleaners, but it’s the only small rufous-brown bird in its range with such a prominent head pattern. Usually seen singly or in pairs, often following a mixed-species flock. Found in montane forests and edges from 1200m up to treeline. Hitches up mossy branches, probing around for invertebrates.
Unicolored Thrush
Turdus haplochrous
Drab thrush endemic to floodplain forest of the Río Mamoré and tributaries surrounded by the flooded Moxos grasslands in El Beni, central Bolivia. From similar Hauxwell’s and Black-billed Thrushes by dull olive bill, exposed yellowish orbital skin, and relatively plain throat. Difficult to see, mainly because most of its habitat is tough to access. Song low, full whistles, 5-6 notes with little variation. Calls short full notes, or longer nasal calls.
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