Circaetus, the snake eagle, are medium-sized eagles found mostly resident in Africa; except for the migratory Short-toed Eagle breeds from the Mediterranean basin into Russia, the Middle East, and India, and winters in sub-Saharan Africa, and east to Indonesia.
They favor open habitats, such as cultivated plains and arid savannah, with trees to build their stick nest in.
The single egg is incubated mainly or entirely by the female.
Description
The head is rounded and the wings broad.
Diet / Feeding
They feed on reptiles, mainly snakes, but also take lizards and occasionally small mammals.
Species in taxonomic order
- Short-toed Eagle Information, Circaetus gallicus / Short-toed Eagle Photo Gallery
- Black-chested Snake-eagle, Circaetus pectoralis – sometimes included in C. gallicus
- Beaudouin’s Snake-eagle, Circaetus beaudouini – sometimes included in C. gallicus
- Brown Snake-eagle, Circaetus cinereus
- Southern Banded Snake-eagle or Fasciated Snake-eagle, Circaetus fasciolatus
- Banded Snake-eagle, Circaetus cinerascens
Eagles … Birds of Prey … The Sport of Falconry
