It has a grey-brown head contrasting slightly with the mainly blackish-brown upperparts and whitish underparts.

The tail has a white tip and shows three distinct dark bands on the underside.

The total length varies from 55 to 60 cm with females larger than males.

[2] The southern banded snake eagle is unobtrusive and is normally found due to its noisy, high-pitched call, "ko-ko-ko-kaw", repeatedly made either from a perch or while in flight.

[2] The southern banded snake eagle occurs in a narrow band along the east African coast from southern Somalia to the north eastern Kwazulu-Natal and inland along the Save River into south eastern Zimbabwe.