Beaudouin's snake eagle

Beaudouin's snake eagle
Perched adult bird near Kampanti, The Gambia.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Circaetus
Species: C. beaudouini
Binomial name
Circaetus beaudouini
Verreaux & Des Murs, 1862

Beaudouin's snake eagle (Circaetus beaudouini) is a species of snake eagle in the Accipitridae family found in the Sahel region of west Africa. It forms a superspecies with the Palearctic short-toed snake eagle Circaetus gallicus and the black-chested snake eagle Circaetus pectoralis.[2]

Description

Wingspan 170 cm. Grey-brown upperparts, including the head and chest, contrast 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.[2]

Behaviour

Normally seen perched rather than in flight but generally behaviour is poorly known. The diet mainly consists of snakes and other small vertebrates.[2]

Habitat

Open woodlands and cultivation.[2]

Distribution

In a narrow band from Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Gambia through southern Mali and Burkina Faso, 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.[3] There may be some nomadic movements, it appears to move southwards during the dry season and northwards during the rains.[4]

Status

Nowhere common and little studied.[2] It appears to be decreasing and is cetegorised as Vulnerable by the IUCN ]].[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Circaetus beaudouini.
  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Circaetus beaudouini". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kemp, Alan & Meg 1998 SASOL Birds of Prey of Africa and its Islands, New Holland ISBN 1 85974 100 2
  3. 1 2 BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Circaetus beaudouini. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/10/2013
  4. ↑ Brown, Urban & Newman 1982 The Birds of Africa Volume 1, Academic Press ISBN 0-12-137301-0


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