3 ssp., see text The jackal buzzard (Buteo rufofuscus) is a fairly large African bird of prey.

[4] Another female also weighed approximately 1,700 g (3.7 lb), making this one of the massive of the world's Buteo species.

Below the chin and around the throat is mainly chestnut, and the rest of the underparts and the underwing coverts are rich rufous but for a contrasting black abdomen with faint white bars.

[4] The jackal buzzard has a call of a sharp, barking quality, weeah ka-ka-ka or kyaahh-ka-ka-ka.

This is largely a mountain-dwelling species, but can range low rocky outcrops and rubble at sea-level to high mountainous in Lesotho up to 3,500 m (11,500 ft).

It can adapt to both desert-like, arid conditions and areas with high rainfall and verdant plant life.

However the aerial display of the pair on territory tends to be much less dramatic than that of the augur buzzard, usually confined to circling or gentle stooping.

[4][14] The large stick nest is built in a tree or on a crag, and is often reused and enlarged in subsequent seasons.

[4][15] Two creamy or bluish white eggs (or very rarely three) are laid at about three day intervals and incubated by the female only, although food is brought to her on the nest by the male.

Typically, this raptor still-hunts by dropping on its prey from a perch, often either trees or roadside poles or posts.

[8] On evidence, the jackal buzzard mainly takes small mammals during the nesting cycle and then switches to a largely carrion-based diet during the non-breeding season.

Jackal buzzards have been recorded at various carrion, including many sheep and goat carcasses and placenta, as well as largely road-killed hares, springhares, springboks and steenboks.