• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• Reference and further resources

Justification of Red List category
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (extent of occurrence <20,000 km² combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population is suspected to be declining, but the rate of decline is not thought to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size may be moderately small to large, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Population justification
Ferguson-Lees and Christie (2001) estimated the global population to be c.10,000-100,000 individuals, which equates to 6,700-67,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification
The population is suspected to be decreasing in West Africa. Thiollay (2007) reported a decline in abundance outside protected areas in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and northern Cameroon during 1969-2004 from 1.4 birds/100 km to 0.2 birds/100 km, equating to an 80% reduction over three generations (27.39 years [Bird et al. 2020]). In contrast, surveys in northern Botswana during 1991-2016 showed a small but significant increase (18.1% over three generations) in the population, with a larger increase when considering only those occuring outside protected areas (Garbett et al. 2018). Preliminary results of analyses comparing the first and second Southern African Bird Atlas Project suggest that the species may be undergoing a range shift in this area (Underhill & Brooks 2014).

In West Africa, loss of woodland habitat and overgrazing threaten the species (Kemp and Marks 2014). Application of pesticides in cultivated areas increases the risk of poisoning whilst hunting may have reduced prey availability (Thiollay 2007). Buij et al. (2016) recorded the species at bushmeat and fetish markets in Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Togo, but estimated that only 14-21 carcasses were traded per year, therefore this is not thought to be a significant threat.

Conservation actions underway
The species is listed on CITES Appendix II, CMS Appendix II and Raptors MoU Category 3.

Text account compilers
Haskell, L.

Contributors
Ashpole, J, Butchart, S. & Ekstrom, J.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Brown Snake-eagle Circaetus cinereus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/brown-snake-eagle-circaetus-cinereus on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.