home   about   search

biodiversity explorer

the web of life in southern Africa

Circaetus cinerascens (Western banded snake-eagle) 

Enkelbandslangarend [Afrikaans]; Kleine grijze slangenarend [Dutch]; Circaète cendré [French]; Band-Schlangenadler [German]; Águia-cobreira-de-cauda-branca [Portuguese]

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) > Tetrapoda (four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota > Reptilia (reptiles) > Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria > Dinosauria (dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) > Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves (birds) > Order: Falconiformes > Family: Accipitridae > Genus: Circaetus

Circaetus cinerascens (Western banded snake-eagle)  Circaetus cinerascens (Western banded snake-eagle) 

Western banded snake-eagle, Poli, Cameroon. [photo Nigel Voaden ©]

Immature Black-chested snake-eagle, Gambia. [photo Bill Clark ©]

Distribution and habitat

Occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, largely absent from the lowland forests of the DRC and other west African countries In southern Africa it is uncommon in northern Botswana, the Caprivi Strip (Namibia), northern Zimbabwe and northern Mozambique, generally favouring riverine forest and woodland, such as tall Mopane (Colosphermum mopane) woodland in the Zambezi River valley; it occasionally hunts in adjacent open habitats.

Distribution of Western-banded snake-eagle in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common).

Movements and migrations

Probably sedentary in southern Africa, although it is scarce in summer in Zimbabwe.

Food 

It mainly eats snakes (especially arboreal ones), doing most of its hunting from a perch, where it stays immobile for hours while searching for prey. Once it spots something, it glides to the ground or tree canopy and plucks the animal up, before returning its perch to feed. The following food items have been recorded in its diet:

Breeding

  • Probably a monogamous solitary nester, performing spectacular aerial displays in the run-up to the breeding season
  • The nest is a platform of sticks with a cup set into it, lined with green leaves such as Munondo (Julbernadia globiflora). It is typically placed about 10-18 metres above ground, in the canopy of a large tree, especially the following species:
    • Acacia polyacantha (White thorn)
    • Acacia nigrescens (Knob thorn)
    • Brachystegia boehmii (Mufuti)
    • Garcinia livingstonei (African mangosteen)

    The nest tree is almost always covered in creepers, including:

    • Artabotrys brachypetalus
    • Bauhinia galpinii (Pride of the cape)
    • Capparis tomentosa (Woolly caper-bush)
    • Grewia flavescens (Sandpaper raisin)
    • Jasminum fluminense
    • Pteralobium stellata
  • Egg-laying season is from about December-February.
  • It lays a single egg, which is incubated for an estimated period of 36-42 days.
  • The chick is fed by both parents, leaving the nest after approximately 56 days.

Threats

Not threatened globally, although degradation of riparian forest, by humans and African elephants (Loxodonta africana), seems to have decreased its population in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

References

  • Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.