Fasciated snake-eagle

Fasciated Snake-eagle
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Subkingdom	Bilateria
Branch	Deuterostomia
Phylum Information
Phylum	Chordata
Sub-phylum	Vertebrata
Infraphylum	Gnathostomata
Class Information
Superclass	Tetrapoda
Class	Aves
Sub-class	Neornithes
Infra-class	Neoaves
Order Information
Superorder	Passerimorphae
Order	Accipitriformes
Infraorder	Falconides
Family Information
Family	Accipitridae
Sub-family	Circaetinae
Genus Information
Genus	Circaetus
Species Information
Species	C. fasciolatus
Population statistics
Population	3,000 est (2008)
Conservation status	Near-threatened

The fasciated snake-eagle or southern banded snake-eagle (Circaetus fasciolatus) is a small eagle found in parts of southern and eastern Africa.

Description

Fasciated snake-eagles are small, no more than two feet in length. It is dark brown above, with reddish-brown to rufus-brown underparts, barred white below the breast. The tail is long, and bears three white bars. The face is rather greyish, with a yellow cere. Juvenile birds are similar, but with white underparts streaked in black.

Threats

Fasciated snake-eagles are found in southern Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique to north-eastern South Africa; the Save River in Mozambique allows them to inhabit south-eastern Zimbabwe. Discounting the Save, the areas in which they live are no more than 16 miles from the coast, and man has made inroads into the coastal forested areas, particularly along rivers where lumber has been extracted for use as timber, electrical and telephone poles, firewood, and charcoal. It is suspected to have disappeared from these areas in Mozambique between the Save and Limpopo rivers. The total population within South Africa may be no more than 50 pairs.