Circaetus fasciolatus
The Southern Banded Snake Eagle inhabits coastal forests and their edges where they feed primarily on reptiles, including venomous snakes, and amphibians. They will also venture into commercial timber plantations that replaced their native forest habitat over much of their local range.
Monogamous and territorial, pairs of Southern Banded Snake Eagles construct their stick-platform nests in the canopies of tall indigenous or plantation trees and usually use these for several consecutive breeding seasons. The female lays a single egg in spring and takes most of the responsibility for its incubation over a 7 week period and for caring for the chick at the nest for its first few weeks after hatching, while the male does most of the hunting to provide food for the female and chick. Fully grown they measure about 58cm long, boast a wingspan of around 1.25m and weigh approximately 1kg.
With a very low density population, estimated between 1,000 and 3,000 spreading over a distribution stretching along Africa’s Indian Ocean coast from southern Somalia to the northern corner of Kwazulu-Natal Province in South Africa, the IUCN considers the Southern Banded Snake Eagle to be near-threatened. Most of their very small local population, probably numbering well below 100 individuals and considered vulnerable, is found in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
DeWetsWild 
Bokke are the champs!! Wow! It was so exciting!
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I am glad you are caught up, Janet – I was so worried I was going to give it away!
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😉. Thanks for not. It was so hard not to just look at the app and find out what had happened. Now we do it all again this weekend. 😳😁. The flag was waving.
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And seeing as they’re in Cape Town this weekend you’ll have two reasons to wave that flag!
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Die een op die paal is so… eagle. Besigtig. Bespeur. En oppas as jy raakgesien word.
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Daai oe kyk regdeur mens!
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really wonderful post, the hunched shoulders is such a giveaway to what’s coming next…great captures
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Thank you kindly!
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Dis jammer dat daar so min van hulle oor is! So ‘n ongellflike mooi voel!
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Dit is regtig n jammerte, Aletta. Gelukkig is die wat oorbly veilig in iSimangaliso.
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Another bird you have been privileged to see 🙂
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Indeed, Anne. This species is always near the top of our wishlist when we visit iSimangaliso. Thank goodness they’re not as skilled at hiding as some of the other specials in that area.
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Julle het goed gedoen om foto’s van hiedie voel te kry (veral aangesien daar so min is). Pragtige foto’s.
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Baie dankie, Corna!
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Less than 100 individuals is very low, They have to do something before is too late. Thanks D. 🙂
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Thankfully the vast majority of our local population is safe in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, H.J.
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You caught the perfect look of the predator!
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Thank you, Janet!
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