Polyboroides – Harrier-hawks

These birds are part of the Accipitridae family, which also includes eagles, hawks, and kites. What sets Polyboroides apart is their remarkable adaptability, unique foraging behavior, and unusual physical traits, making them some of the most interesting and versatile raptors in the African and Malagasy landscapes.

One of their most distinctive features is their double-jointed legs—a rare trait among birds of prey. These flexible legs allow them to reach deep into crevices, nests, and tree holes to extract prey that other raptors can’t access. This gives them a huge advantage when foraging for food, as they can dig out nestlings, lizards, bats, rodents, and insects hiding in tight spaces. They also feed on fruit, making them unusual among raptors in having a diet that includes both animal and plant matter.

The African harrier-hawk is the more widespread of the two, found
throughout sub-Saharan Africa, in a variety of habitats from dense forests to savannas and urban areas. The Madagascan harrier-hawk, as the name suggests, is endemic to Madagascar and shares many of the same habits, though it is more limited in range and less studied.

These birds are medium to large-sized, measuring around 60 to 66 centimeters (24 to 26 inches) in length. They have a distinctive facial appearance, with bare yellow or red skin on the face, grayish plumage, and broad, rounded wings. In flight, they display bold black-and-white barring on their underwings and tail, making them easy to recognize from below. Their flight is slow and buoyant, often seen gliding low over trees or circling overhead with steady wingbeats.