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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 Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circaetus Fasciolatus, Chiboma, Sofala, Birding Weto, A
''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 bird migration, 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'', "ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short-toed Snake Eagle
The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus name ''Circaetus'' is from the Ancient Greek ''kirkos'', a type of hawk, and ''aetos'', "eagle". The specific ''gallicus'' means "of Gallia". Taxonomy The short-toed snake eagle was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the falcons, eagles and their relatives in the genus '' Falco'' and coined the binomial name ''Falco gallicus''. Gmelin based his description on the "Jean le Blanc" that had been described by the English ornithologist John Latham and the French ornithologists Mathurin Jacques Brisson and the Comte de Buffon. The short-toed snake eagle is now placed in the genus '' Circaetus'' that was introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-chested Snake Eagle
The black-chested snake eagle or black-breasted snake eagle (''Circaetus pectoralis'') is a large African bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. It resembles other snake eagles and was formerly considered conspecific with the short-toed and Beaudouin's snake eagles, to which it is closely related. Taxonomy Although originally proposed as separate species, many authors previously considered both the black-chested and Beaudouin's snake eagles to be subspecies of the short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''). However, this convention was not followed by all taxonomists, with some citing differences in adult plumage and breeding ranges as evidence in favour of awarding each full species status. Brown (1974) followed this latter view, but cited several instances of alleged hybridization between the three forms which would justify their treatment as a single species under the Biological Species Concept. However, Clark (1999) suggested that these alleged hybridization events ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beaudouin's Snake Eagle
Beaudouin's snake eagle (''Circaetus beaudouini'') is a species of snake eagle in the family Accipitridae found in the Sahel region of west Africa. It forms a superspecies with the Palearctic short-toed snake eagle ''Circaetus gallicus'' and the black-chested snake eagle ''Circaetus pectoralis''. This bird seems to be declining in numbers and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as a "vulnerable species". Description The bird has a wingspan of . A large snake eagle with grey-brown upperparts, including the head and chest, contrasting with white underparts barred with brown and white vent. It has a black bill and large, bright yellow eyes with long pale grey, unfeathered legs. Juveniles are all dark. Behaviour Normally seen on a prominent perch such as a telegraph pole or dead tree, as it is a sit-and-wait hunter, rather than in flight but generally behaviour is poorly known. The diet mainly consists of snakes and other small vertebrates. It breeds in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congo Serpent Eagle
The Congo serpent eagle (''Circaetus spectabilis'') is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. This species is distributed across the African tropical rainforest, including upper and lower Guinean forests. This serpent eagle specializes in hunting in these forests' dark understories. It has two subspecies, the nominate subspecies ''Circaetus spectabilis spectabilis'' and ''Circaetus spectabilis batesi''. This hawk is a medium-sized bird with distinctive short, rounded wings and a long, rounded tail. It is varying shades of brown on its back and has a slight crest. Its breast is white with variable amounts of a rufous wash and, in the nominate subspecies, is covered in round, blackish spots. The subspecies ''C. s. batesi'' only has these dots on its flanks. The Congo serpent eagle closely resembles Cassin's hawk-eagle, and some ornithologists believe that this likeness is a rare example of avian mimicry. It is a very vocal raptor, and often is one of the most hear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Banded Snake Eagle
The southern banded snake eagle (''Circaetus fasciolatus''), also known as the East African snake eagle or fasciated snake eagle, is a species of snake eagle in the family Accipitridae which is found in eastern Sub-Saharan Africa. Description The southern banded snake eagle is a rather small, stocky snake eagle with a large, rounded head which has a hooded beak. It has a grey-brown head contrasting slightly with the mainly blackish-brown upperparts and whitish underparts. The tail has a white tip and shows three distinct dark bands on the underside. The large eyes are pale yellow eyes, the feet and cere are yellow and the bill us black. The juvenile lacks the grey head, has mainly dark upperparts and the whitish pale underparts are marked with dark streaks on the face, throat and upper breast. The total length varies from 55 to 60 cm with females larger than males. Voice The southern banded snake eagle is unobtrusive and is normally found due to its noisy, high-pitched call ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Banded Snake Eagle
The western banded snake eagle (''Circaetus cinerascens'') is a grey-brown African raptor with a short tail and a large head. Juveniles have paler and browner upper parts than adults, with white-edged feathers. The eagle's head, neck and breast are dark-streaked. The underparts are white with pale brown streaks, mainly on belly and thighs. Subadults may be all dark grey-brown without any streak on underparts. The eyes, ears, and legs are yellow. They have crested chests. Habitat Western banded snake eagles live in woodlands, mainly along rivers, but they avoid dense forests. Behaviour Western banded snake eagles mainly hunt snakes, but also other small vertebrates, ambushing from a perch. They drop from the perch to trunk, foliage or ground. They are solitary birds, and very secretive. Due to their sedentary lifestyle, they are often detected only by their calls. The western banded snake eagle sometimes rises to soar, while it calls above the canon. They utter a loud, high-p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila (bird), Aquila''. Most of the 68 species of eagles are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just 14 species can be found—two in North America, nine in Central and South America, and three in Australia. Eagles are not a natural group but denote essentially any kind of bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrates. Etymology The word "eagle" is borrowed into English from and , both derived ultimately from ("eagle"). It is cognate with terms such as , and . It is broadly synonymous with the less common English term "erne" or "earn", deriving from , from , in which it acts as the usual word for the bird. The Old English term is turn derived from and is cognate with other synonymous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Banded Snake Eagle (Circaetus Cinerascens)
The western banded snake eagle (''Circaetus cinerascens'') is a grey-brown African raptor with a short tail and a large head. Juveniles have paler and browner upper parts than adults, with white-edged feathers. The eagle's head, neck and breast are dark-streaked. The underparts are white with pale brown streaks, mainly on belly and thighs. Subadults may be all dark grey-brown without any streak on underparts. The eyes, ears, and legs are yellow. They have crested chests. Habitat Western banded snake eagles live in woodlands, mainly along rivers, but they avoid dense forests. Behaviour Western banded snake eagles mainly hunt snakes, but also other small vertebrates, ambushing from a perch. They drop from the perch to trunk, foliage or ground. They are solitary birds, and very secretive. Due to their sedentary lifestyle, they are often detected only by their calls. The western banded snake eagle sometimes rises to soar, while it calls above the canon. They utter a loud, high-p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accipitridae
The Accipitridae () is one of the four families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds of prey with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-sized mammals, with a number feeding on carrion and a few feeding on fruit. The Accipitridae have a cosmopolitan distribution, being found on all the world's continents (except Antarctica) and a number of oceanic island groups. Some species are migratory. The family contains 256 species which are divided into 12 subfamilies and 75 genera. Many well-known birds such as hawks, eagles, kites, harriers and Old World vultures are included in this group. The osprey is usually placed in a separate family ( Pandionidae), as is the secretary bird ( Sagittariidae), and the New World vultures are also usually now regarded as a separate family or order. Karyotype data indicate the accipitrids analysed are indeed a distinct monophyletic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
