Crested Serpent-Eagle: how to recognise it
A bird of Asia. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Saurabh Agrawal · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Spilornis cheela
- Family
- Hawks, Eagles, and Kites
- Size
- About 60 cm
- Habitat
- Tropical forest and wooded hills
- Found in
- Asia
The key marks
Dark brown eagle with a short, bushy black-and-white crest, bare yellow face and legs, spotted underparts and a broad white band across the black tail. Changeable Hawk-Eagle has feathered legs, a finely barred tail and streaked chest.
Voice
A loud, ringing, whistled series of 'kwee' notes.
Good to know
It often circles over forest calling loudly, but hunts from a perch, mostly for snakes and lizards.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Changeable Hawk-Eagle. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in tropical forest and wooded hills. It is especially common in Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.