Spilornis

Spilornis is a genus of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. As adults all have dark crowns, and bright yellow eyes and cere.^[2] These medium-sized raptors are found in forests of southern Asia and are known as serpent-eagles, an English name shared with two African species from the genera Dryotriorchis and Eutriorchis.^[2]

Spilornis
Crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Subfamily:	Circaetinae
Genus:	Spilornis G.R. Gray, 1840[1]
Type species
Falco cheela Latham, 1790

Etymology

Greek: σπιλος spilos "spot"; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos "bird".^[3]

Species

As traditionally defined, there are 6 species in this genus. It has been proposed that several small island populations, usually included in the Crested Serpent Eagle, be split into separate species.^[2]

Genus Spilornis – G.R. Gray, 1840 – six species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Andaman serpent eagle	Spilornis elgini (Blyth, 1863)	Andaman Islands in southeast India.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	VU
Great Nicobar serpent eagle	Spilornis klossi (Richmond, 1902) Two subspecies S. k. minimus S. k. klossi	Indian island of Great Nicobar	Size: Habitat: Diet:	EN
Sulawesi serpent eagle	Spilornis rufipectus (Gould, 1858) Two subspecies S. r. rufipectus - Gould, 1858 S. r. sulaensis - (Schlegel, 1866)	Sulawesi in Indonesia	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Crested serpent eagle	Spilornis cheela (Latham, 1790) Twenty one subspecies S. c. batu S. c. bido S. c. burmanicus S. c. cheela S. c. hoya S. c. malayensis S. c. melanotis S. c. palawanensis S. c. pallidus S. c. richmondi S. c. ricketti S. c. rutherfordi S. c. spilogaster S. c. abbotti S. c. asturinus S. c. baweanus S. c. davisoni S. c. minimus S. c. natunensis S. c. perplexus S. c. sipora	across the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and East Asia	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Philippine serpent eagle	Spilornis holospilus (Vigors, 1831)	Philippines	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Mountain serpent eagle	Spilornis kinabaluensis Sclater, WL, 1919	northern Borneo	Size: Habitat: Diet:	NT