Scientific name: Terathopius ecaudatus
The bateleur is a colourful species with a very short tail (ecaudatus is Latin for tailless) which, together with its white underwing coverts, makes it unmistakable in flight.The tail is so small the bird's legs protrude slightly beyond the tail during flight.adults have black plumage, a chestnut mantle and tail, grey shoulders, tawny wing coverts, and red facial skin, bill and legs. The female additionally has tawny secondary wing feathers. Less commonly, the mantle may be white.[5] Immature birds are brown with white dappling and have greenish facial skin.
In southern Africa, it is locally common in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and northern and eastern Namibia and South Africa. It generally prefers savanna and woodland habitats, such as arid Acacia savanna and miombo (Brachystegia) woodland and Mopane (Colosphermum mopane) woodland, especially with long grass. It may also move into drainage-line woodland in semi-desert shrubland.
It is mainly a scavenger, although about a third of its time is spent hunting, feeding on a variety of animals. It usually hunts aerially, sometimes flying to veld fires, as it feeds on animals killed by the heat or fleeing from it. It sometimes flies along roads in search of roadkills to feed on.
