Circaetus beaudouini
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% 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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Beaudouin's Snake Eagle sighting in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 158th most-seen of the 215 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March and November–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Beaudouin's Snake Eagle in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, April and August–September, the lowest months. Those are among Niokolo-Koba National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 300 mm in August. May–July and October have too few records to rate.
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.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Beaudouin's Snake Eagle sightings, Niokolo-Koba National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda, about 10%).
Same genus: Circaetus
The closest relatives of the Beaudouin's Snake Eagle that you can see in Niokolo-Koba National Park (genus Circaetus, Snake-Eagles) are Brown Snake Eagle (about 30%) and Banded Snake-Eagle (about 30%), 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 Niokolo-Koba National Park (20 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.
