The Wildlife Authority (BBKSDA) in North Sumatra rescued a
Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) from an illegal owner in Sunggal
Village, Medan on Wednesday (February 19, 2020)
The rescue mission is done by the BBKSDA in cooperation with
the Scorpion Foundation. The BBKSDA and Scorpion got the information about this
illegal bird from a local villager. The illegal owner agreed to hand-over his
bird to the BBKSDA who later delivered the bird to the Wildlife Rescue Center in
Sibolangit.
The crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela), according to a Wikipedia report, is a
medium-sized bird of prey that is found in forested habitats across tropical
Asia. Within its widespread range across the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast
Asia and East Asia, there are considerable variations and some authorities
prefer to treat several of its subspecies as completely separate species.
In the past, several
species including the Philippine serpent eagle (S. holospila), Andaman serpent
eagle (S. elgini) and South Nicobar serpent eagle (S. klossi) were treated as
subspecies of the Crested serpent eagle.
All members within the species complex have a large looking head with long feathers on the back of the head giving them a maned and crested appearance. The face is bare and yellow joining up with the ceres while the powerful feet are unfeathered and heavily scaled. 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. They often feed on snakes, giving them their name and are placed along with the Circaetus snake-eagles in the subfamily Circaetinae.
