A forest snake-eagle of coastal East and southeastern Africa. Its grayish face and three white bars on a relatively long tail are useful identification marks.
It has a grayish face, dark brown upperparts, and three white bars on the relatively long tail. Juveniles are white below with black streaks.
It is found mainly in dense coastal and riverine forest, also ranging into nearby marshes and floodplains. It feeds almost exclusively on snakes and lizards; it is resident over much of its range, with some dry-season movement in Kenya.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.