A common resident confined to the north and north east of Southern Africa. Usually solitary or in pairs perching on top of trees scanning the ground for prey. They may catch prey in flight.
They like woodland and savanna but not forests where they hunt for lizards, snakes, birds (up to the size of guinea fowl), mammals (up to the size of squirrel), insects and carrion.
These goshawks are usually silent when not breeding but call mostly at first light with a melodious piping wip – pi – pi – pi – pi – pip speeding up to the end and repeated several times increasing in loudness and pitch.
During breeding which takes place from July until November, they soar in a breeding display. The nest is a platform of sticks sometimes mixed with mud, often festooned with spider webs and lined with dung, grass, hair and rags.
One or two plain white or bluish white eggs are laid. Incubation is unrecorded and nestling period is about 50 days. Only one chick is reared.
Tribal name is kakodi and in Afrikaans die donkersingvalk.
