Melierax poliopterus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The eastern (pale) chanting goshawk (Melierax poliopterus), or Somali chanting goshawk, is a bird of prey of East Africa. This species is intermediate between the smaller dark chanting goshawk (widespread to the west and south) and the pale chanting goshawk (southern Africa) in colour, size, and leg length, but not in range. It has often been considered a subspecies of the latter, but because of this disparity between geography and characters, it is now considered a separate species, as agreed by many authorities.
This species averages 49 to 55 cm (19 to 22 in) long, with a wingspan of 96 to 110 cm (38 to 43 in) and a tail length of 20 to 25 cm (7.9 to 9.8 in). Males average 85 percent the size of females. Like the other chanting goshawks, it resembles an accipiter but the tail is shorter and graduated (the feathers increase in length from the edges to the center), and the wings are broader.
Adults have grey head, neck, breast, and upperparts, except for the white or lightly barred uppertail coverts. The belly has narrow grey and white bars and the undertail coverts are white. The belly and wing linings are white, the secondaries are light grey... Wikipedia →
Call0:44
Tanzania · 2019
© Peter Boesman · XC510246 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Call0:15
Ethiopia · 2013
© Samuel Jones · XC140470 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Recording0:03
Kenya · 2023
© Yvonne A. de Jong · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 11 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 13 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 15 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 16 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 17 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 18 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Chanting-Goshawk sighting in Amboseli National Park on a given day, based on 203 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 100th most-seen of the 362 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, April–July, September and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Chanting-Goshawk in Amboseli National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January, March, August and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Chanting-Goshawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 18
Of the 18 parks where we can rate Eastern Chanting-Goshawk sightings, Amboseli National Park ranks 8th at about 20%. The best odds are in Meru National Park (Kenya, about 50%), Tsavo West National Park (Kenya, about 50%) and Samburu National Reserve (Kenya, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Eastern Chanting-Goshawk that you can see in Amboseli National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are African Fish-Eagle (about 50%), Tawny Eagle (about 40%) and White-backed Vulture (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Chanting-Goshawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Amboseli National Park (203 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
