Circaetus
Circaetus, the snake eagles, is a genus of medium-sized eagles in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. They are mainly resident African species, but the migratory short-toed snake eagle breeds from the Mediterranean basin into Russia, the Middle East and India, and winters in sub-Saharan Africa and east to Indonesia.
Snake eagles are found in open habitats like cultivated plains arid savanna, but require trees in which to build a stick nest. The single egg is incubated mainly or entirely by the female.
Circaetus eagles have a rounded head and broad wings. They prey on reptiles, mainly snakes, but also take lizards and occasionally small mammals.
Taxonomy and species
The genus Circaetus was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot to accommodate a single species, the short-toed snake eagle, which is therefore considered the type species. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kirkos, a type of hawk, and aetos, "eagle".The genus contains seven species.
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
| Western banded snake eagle | Circaetus cinerascens | Senegal and Gambia to west Ethiopia and south to Namibia and Zimbabwe | |
| Southern banded snake eagle | Circaetus fasciolatus | Kenya to northeast South Africa | |
| Congo serpent eagle | Circaetus spectabilis | West and central Africa | |
| Beaudouin's snake eagle | Circaetus beaudouini | Senegal to South Sudan, northwest Kenya and Uganda | |
| Black-chested snake eagle | Circaetus pectoralis | east Sudan and Ethiopia to South Africa | |
| Short-toed snake eagle | Circaetus gallicus | southwest Europe to central Asia, northwest China and India; Lesser Sunda Islands | |
| Brown snake eagle | Circaetus cinereus | Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia and south to South Africa |
Fossil record
Circaetus rhodopensis''Circaetus haemusensis''