Crested Serpent Eagle - Spilornis cheela malayensis

FALCONIFORMES Accipitridae

Serpent-Eagle

Some clarification on the use of certain terms.

Raptors or raptorial birds, quote - "warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings." Then Accipiter are hawks that visit deeply wooded areas. The birds generally has short rounded wings and long rudder like tails, to assist them in maneuver between foliages.

For the Malaysian Bird list, I have grouped all these Accipiters as one under this family heading. The birds included are:-

1 Osprey	1 Besra
1 Hawk	1 Honey Buzzard
1 Griffons	2 Vultures
2 Goshawks	2 Sparrowhawks
6 Eagles	2 Serpent-Eagles
3Sea/Fish eagles	4 Hawk-Eagles
2 Baza	3 Buzzards
4 Harriers	3 Kites

I have extracted the names from this large group of Accipiters the 2 Serpent Eagles that we get to see in Malaysia and have a dedicated page for at least one of the two, the very common "yellow face" - a nickname I gave this bird.

Crested Serpent Eagle	Spilornis cheela
Kinabalu Serpent Eagle	Spilornis kinabaluensis

Serpent Eagles so-named as they are snakes eating Eagles.

The bird has a large looking head with long feathers on the back of the head giving a crested appearance. The face is bare with yellow skin. The lower legs are unfeathered and installed with armor-like scales that help protect them against snakebites. 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. The underside is spotted with white and yellowish-brown. When perched the wing tips do not reach until the tail tip. In soaring flight, the broad and paddle-shaped wings are held in a shallow "V".

This medium-large, dark brown eagle is stocky, with rounded wings and a short tail could be of varying sizes ranging from 56-74 cm. The bird is from continental India, South China, Greater Sundas and the Philippines. It is very common in all forests in Malaysia. Lowland, mangrove, sub-montane and at times montane forest too. This bird needs no introduction.

Young birds show a lot of white on the head. In flight this Eagle is for me is most easy to distinguish. It has a broad white band on the tail. The wings also have continuous white band as well. In resting position, when the bird is not too far away, the yellow facial skins around the eyes make the bird easy to identify. Very often, its unmistakable calls over the hills and valley will signal their presence. Could be in flight or perched near-by

"Crested" - but as you can see from the pictures, the crest does not appear that readily. Seen as a tuft behind the head. Some books talk about the crest can be manipulated to cover the eye in event of an attack by its victim, the snakes.

The bird prefers open end or bare branches in the middle storey but could also pick vantage perches in low places.