Circaetus pectoralis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The black-chested snake eagle or black-breasted snake eagle (Circaetus pectoralis) is a large African bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. It resembles other snake eagles and was formerly considered conspecific with the short-toed and Beaudouin's snake eagles, to which it is closely related.
Although originally proposed as separate species, many authors previously considered both the black-chested and Beaudouin's snake eagles to be subspecies of the short-toed snake eagle (Circaetus gallicus). However, this convention was not followed by all taxonomists, with some citing differences in adult plumage and breeding ranges as evidence in favour of awarding each full species status. Brown (1974) followed this latter view, but cited several instances of alleged hybridization between the three forms which would justify their treatment as a single species under the Biological Species Concept. However, Clark (1999) suggested that these alleged hybridization events may have instead resulted from misidentification of juvenile or subadult black-chested snake eagles as adults of other species.
A molecular phylogenetic analysis based on two mitochondrial genes and one nuclear intron... Wikipedia →
Call0:31
Ethiopia · 2009
© Toon Spanhove · XC57552 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dullstroom Bird Of Prey & Rehabilitation Centre | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-breasted Snake Eagle sighting in South Luangwa National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 219th most-seen of the 257 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-breasted Snake Eagle in South Luangwa National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to March, the lowest months. That is one of South Luangwa National Park's driest months, with about 50 mm of rain against 310 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-breasted 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.
37th of 41
Of the 41 parks where we can rate Black-breasted Snake Eagle sightings, South Luangwa National Park ranks 37th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa, about 30%), Masai Mara National Reserve (Kenya, about 20%) and Serengeti National Park (Tanzania, about 20%).
Same genus: Circaetus
The closest relatives of the Black-breasted Snake Eagle that you can see in South Luangwa National Park (genus Circaetus, Snake-Eagles) are Banded Snake-Eagle (about 20%) and Brown Snake Eagle (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-breasted Snake Eagle is recorded against all the birds logged in South Luangwa National Park (11 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.
