Sagittarius serpentarius occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, from southern Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia and northern Guinea eastwards, north of the forest zone, through southern Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, southern areas of Niger, Chad and Sudan and northern parts of Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, to Ethiopia and north-western Somalia, and south through eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, to southern Africa, including Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa¹. It is variably described as common to rare and localised, and is sedentary in some parts of its range and nomadic in others¹. Ad-hoc records, localised surveys and anecdotal observations indicate an apparent decline in many parts of the species's range, with some of the strongest evidence suggesting rapid declines in Tanzania since the late 1990s and in South Africa between 1987-1991 and 2007-2010².