EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Flying High and Coarsing Low

Black-chested Snake Eagle (Circaetus pectoralis), Family Accipitridae
Masai Mara, Kenya

Explanation:  How elegant and beautiful is this adult Black-chested Snake-eagle of the savannas of eastern tropical Africa.  

With long wings and a long tail for high maneuverability, Black-chested Snake-eagles hunt from the air -- coarsing low -- and swooping down on small reptiles, mammals, invertebrates, and even other birds.  

This wide-ranging eagle may undertake long wandering, nomadic flights -- flying high -- and might be migratory, but its movement patterns are largely unstudied.