CRESTED SERPENT EAGLE (Spilornis cheela)
is a medium-sized bird of prey that is found in
forested habitats across tropical Asia. Within its widespread range, there are
considerable variations and some authorities prefer to treat several of its subspecies as completely separate
species. In the past, several
species including the Philippine
Serpent Eagle (S.
holospila), Andaman
Serpent Eagle (S.
elgini) and South
Nicobar Serpent Eagle (S.
klossi) were treated as subspecies of the Crested Serpent Eagle. All members
within the species complex have a large looking
head with long feathers on the back of the head giving them a maned and crested
appearance. The face is bare and yellow joining up with the ceres while the
powerful feet are unfeathered and heavily scaled. They fly over the forest
canopy on broad wings and tail have wide white and black bars. They call often
with a loud, piercing and familiar three or two-note call. They often feed on
snakes, giving them their name and are placed along with the Circaetus snake-eagles in the
subfamily Circaetinae.
The call is a distinctive Kluee-wip-wip with the first note being high and
rising. They call a lot in the late mornings from their perches where they
spend a lot of time and they rise on thermals in the mornings.
When alarmed, they erect the crest and the head
appears large and framed by the ruff. They
will sometimes follow snakes on the ground. They
roost in the interiors of trees with dense foliage. A
radio-telemetric study of the species in Taiwan found that the birds spend 98%
of the day perched and usually finding food in the morning hours. They appear
to use a sit and wait foraging strategy.[INFO:WIKIPEIA]
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