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Eastern Chanting Goshawk
Melierax poliopterus
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| Status: Lower risk |
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| Population Trend: Stable. |
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| Other Names: Eastern Chanting-goshawk, Eastern Pale Chanting-goshawk, Somali Chanting-goshawk. |
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more photos
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| Distribution: Afrotropical. Southeastern ETHIOPIA and SOMALIA south to eastern UGANDA and northern TANZANIA. more.... |
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| Subspecies: Monotypic. |
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| Taxonomy: Often considered a subspecies of Melierax canorus of South Africa (e.g., Brown and Amadon 1968 and Stresemann and Amadon 1979), but probably forms a superspecies with that form and M. metabates. |
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| Movements: Irruptive or local migrant (Bildstein 2006). Probably mostly sedentary, but regular northward migration has been reported from southeastern Kenya between January-March (Rasa 1986). |
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| Habitat and Habits: Occurs in savanna, steppe, semi-arid, and arid regions. Most common in undisturbed dry savanna grassland with scattered bushes and thorn trees, generally occurring in drier habitats than the Dark Chanting-goshawk. Usually found singly, or in pairs on exposed perches, including camel humps (Ash and Miskell 1998). more.... |
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| Food and Feeding Behavior: Preys on small birds, rodents, lizards, and insects, hunting mainly on the ground. Often seen perching in the open on the top of a bush or low thorn tree. more.... |
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| Breeding: Clutch size is one egg. more.... |
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| Conservation: Common throughout its range. Potential threats to this species include habitat loss from overgrazing, tree cutting, and woodland destruction by elephants, and possibly interspecific competition (Verdoorn and Roth 2000). Categorized globally as a species of "Least Concern" by BirdLife International. |
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Important References:
Brown, L.H., E.K. Urban, and K. Newman. 1982. The birds of Africa. Vol. 1.
Academic Press, London.
Ferguson-Lees, J., and D.A. Christie. 2001. Raptors of the world. Houghton
Mifflin, Boston, MA.
Kemp, A.C. 1994. Eastern Chanting-goshawk. P. 144 in del Hoyo, J., A.
Elliott, and J. Sargatal (eds). Handbook of birds of the world. Vol. 2. New
World vultures to guineafowl. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.
Lerner, H.R.L., M.C. Klaver, and D.P. Mindell. 2008. Molecular
phylogenetics of the buteonine birds of prey (Accipitridae). Auk
125:304-315.
Rasa, O.A.E. 1986. Nocturnal group flights of the Pale Chanting Goshawk
(Melierax canorus poliopterus) in the Taru Desert, Kenya. Ostrich
57:191-192.
Rasa, O.A.E. 1987. Patterns of intra-African small raptor spring
migrations in the Taru Desert, Kenya. African Journal of Ecology 25:165-171.
Smeenk, C. 1974. Comparative ecological studies of some East African
birds of prey. Ardea 62:1-97.
Smeenk, C., and N. Smeenk Enserink. 1976. Observations on the Pale
Chanting-goshawk Melierax poliopterus, with comparative notes
on the Gabar Goshawk Micronisus gabar. Ardea 63:93-115.
more.... |
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| Sites of Interest: |
VIREO
Eastern Chanting Goshawk photos.
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Last modified: 11/12/2009 |
Recommended Citation: Global Raptor Information Network. 2014. Species account: Eastern Chanting Goshawk Melierax poliopterus. Downloaded from http://www.globalraptors.org on 19 Apr. 2014
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