Dark Chanting Goshawk ( Melierax metabates, family: Accipitridae)

dark chanting goshawk kruger national park birds The Dark Chanting Goshawk (Latin name Melierax metabates) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 163 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 508 also a picture of the Dark Chanting Goshawk on page 433. The Dark Chanting Goshawk belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Dark Chanting Goshawk is also known by these other names: Chanting Goshawk.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Dark Chanting Goshawk is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Dark Chanting Goshawk in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Dark Chanting Goshawk : see above distribution map.

The Dark Chanting Goshawk.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Dark Chanting Goshawk is a bird about the size of a Francolin now called Spurfowl. The height of the Dark Chanting Goshawk is about 45 cms and its weight is about 480 gms

You will find that the male Dark Chanting Goshawk plumage and colours are different to that of the female Dark Chanting Goshawk

  • Head is grey.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is red.
  • Throat is grey.
  • Back is grey, brown.
  • Legs are red.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Dark Chanting Goshawk feeds on the ground mainly

Reptiles

Other Birds

Smaller animals

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Dark Chanting Goshawk is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Melierax metabates will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Dark Chanting Goshawk is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are blue in colour and number between 1 to 2

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Dark Chanting Goshawk are: woodlands

You can expect to see Dark Chanting Goshawk in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Donkersingvalk

German ... Graubrzel-Singhabicht, Dunkler Grauflgelhabicht

Portuguese ... Aor-cantor-escuro

French ... Autour sombre

Dutch ... Donkere Zanghavik

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 163

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za