Circaetus beaudouini
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Beaudouin's snake eagle (Circaetus beaudouini) is a species of snake eagle in the family Accipitridae found in the Sahel region of west Africa. It forms a superspecies with the Palearctic short-toed snake eagle Circaetus gallicus and the black-chested snake eagle Circaetus pectoralis. This bird seems to be declining in numbers and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as a "vulnerable species".
The bird has a wingspan of 170 cm (67 in). A large snake eagle with grey-brown upperparts, including the head and chest, contrasting with white underparts barred with brown and white vent. It has a black bill and large, bright yellow eyes with long pale grey, unfeathered legs. Juveniles are all dark.
Normally seen on a prominent perch such as a telegraph pole or dead tree, as it is a sit-and-wait hunter, rather than in flight but generally behaviour is poorly known. The diet mainly consists of snakes and other small vertebrates. It breeds in November to March in West Africa in a small stick nest at up to 25 m (82 ft) in the top of a tree. The clutch is usually a single egg. Incubation period is probably around 45 days with a fledging... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 3 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Beaudouin's Snake Eagle sighting in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 213th most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November to March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Beaudouin's Snake Eagle in Murchison Falls National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to October, the lowest months. Those are among Murchison Falls National Park's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 190 mm in October.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Beaudouin's Snake Eagle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Beaudouin's Snake Eagle sightings, Murchison Falls National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 10%) and Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 10%).
Same genus: Circaetus
The closest relatives of the Beaudouin's Snake Eagle that you can see in Murchison Falls National Park (genus Circaetus, Snake-Eagles) are Brown Snake Eagle (about 10%) and Banded Snake-Eagle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Beaudouin's Snake Eagle is recorded against all the birds logged in Murchison Falls National Park (60 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.
