Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Western banded snake eagle

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Kingdom
  
Genus
  
Phylum
  
Chordata

Rank
  
Species

Family
  
Scientific name
  
Circaetus cinerascens

Higher classification
  
Circaetus

Western banded snake eagle Western Banded Snakeeagle Circaetus cinerascens Western Banded

Similar
  
Southern banded snake ea, Bird, Beaudouin's snake eagle, Brown snake eagle, Black‑chested snake eagle

Western banded snake eagle


The western banded snake eagle (Circaetus cinerascens) is a grey-brown African raptor with a short tail and a large head. Juveniles have paler and browner upper parts than adults, with white-edged feathers. Head, neck and breast are dark-streaked. The underparts are white with pale brown streaks, mainly on belly and thighs. Subadults may be all dark grey-brown without any streak on underparts. The eyes, ears, and legs are yellow. They have crested chests.

Contents

Western banded snake eagle Circaetus cenerascens Western Banded SnakeEagle Flickr

Habitat

Western banded snake eagles live in woodlands, mainly along rivers, but they avoid dense forests.

Behaviour

Western banded snake eagle Western Banded Snake Eagle Ethiopia ReVisited Bird images from

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.

Western banded snake eagle wwwbiodiversityexplorerorgbirdsaccipitridaeim

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'.

Geographic range

Western banded snake eagle Western Banded Snakeeagle

They are found in Africa in the northern tropics from Senegal and Gambia east through to Ethiopia and then south to southern Angola and Zimbabwe, mostly west of the Rift Valley, but are mostly absent from the western lowland equatorial forests. They inhabit woodland and forest edges. This is an uncommon bird which is often difficult to spot. Its distribution is patchy and it is vulnerable to loss of its riverine habitat. It feeds primarily on reptiles and amphibians which it captures either on the ground or in trees.

Reproduction

Western banded snake eagle cinerascens Western banded snakeeagle

The western banded snake eagle nests among creepers and foliage, making a new nest every year. It builds a small stick-nest, well concealed within vegetation. The female lays only one egg. Incubation may last between 35 and 55 days, mainly by the female. The young fledge from the nest after 10 to 15 weeks.

References

Western banded snake eagle Wikipedia


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