Buteo rufofuscus
The Jackal Buzzard is a large bird of prey (wingspan up to 1.4m, weight up to 1.7kg, females being the larger sex) found only in Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa. While they do occur over arid scrublands, open grasslands and agricultural areas they are most common in hilly and mountainous areas where they are usually the most numerous and conspicuous large raptor. They feed mainly on small mammals, birds, reptiles and carrion and occasionally insects and frogs.
Outside of the spring & summer breeding season they’re usually seen singly, though pairs do seem to be monogamous and share a territory. Nests are built atop large trees or rocky ledges and are often re-used in consecutive years. The female incubates the clutch of 1-3, eggs, while the male brings food to her over a 6 week period, with the chicks staying in the nest for up to 2 months after hatching before attempting their first flight. Last hatched chicks are often much smaller than their sibling and frequently dies as it cannot compete for food. The chicks stay with their parents for quite some time after leaving the nest.
The Jackal Buzzard gets its name from its call, which could easily be confused for that of the Black-backed Jackal. It is considered of least concern by the IUCN, though unintentional poisoning may be a concern. They have a life expectancy of around 25 years.
DeWetsWild 
Enjoyed learning about Jackal Buzzards. Great pictures and such an interesting bird. Hopefully with your posts more awareness will be created, which in turn can help protect them.
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Welcome here, Sylvia, and so nice to hear that you enjoyed our post about our Jackal Buzzard so much – thank you!
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Great photos, Dries. Thanks for the audio, albeit very brief. 🙂
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Thank you for alerting me to that, Sylvia – I’ve linked to a longer recording now.
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I’ll have another listen. 🙂
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Handsome birds. I have not often heard them call, but when I have I am amazed at how remarkably like a jackal’s the call is. Thanks for the link to the audio.
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Their calls are very alike – Luckily the time of the day can help to distinguish which you’re hearing!
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Jackal Buzzards are frequently seen around here – beautiful!
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What a privilege that is, Anne. I would love to see them more often.
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Very interesting bird!
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They really are, Montucky, and I’d love to see them more often!
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Pretty nice looking bird. Here’s a 100-word flash fiction story I wrote some years ago about buzzards. 🙂
janet
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Loved the short story, thanks Janet!
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what would be unintentional poisoning?
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It’s a sad situation, Lois, and mostly illegal, but some of our small stock farmers use poisoned carcasses to control what they term “vermin” like jackals, and poachers also use the technique to kill vultures and big cats for “traditional medicine”. Sadly more often than not many other animals and birds that come to scavenge from such poisoned carcasses die as a result.
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I thought it might be something like this. It is incredibly sad, Dries.
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Horrible that in today’s “enlightened” age we still have people with that kind of thinking walking among us.
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