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. The eagle's 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.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Altricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
Soaring birds can maintain flight without wing flapping, using rising air currents. Many gliding birds are able to "lock" their extended wings by m...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withWestern banded snake eagles live in woodlands, mainly along rivers, but they avoid dense forests.
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.
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.
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'.
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.
