Circaetus
| Circaetus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Short-toed snake eagle | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Subfamily: | Circaetinae |
| Genus: | Circaetus Vieillot, 1816 |
| Species | |
|
C. gallicus | |
Circaetus, the snake eagles, is a genus of medium-sized eagles in the bird of prey family Accipitridae.
These 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.
Species in taxonomic order
- Short-toed snake eagle, Circaetus gallicus
- 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
- Western banded snake eagle, Circaetus cinerascens
Fossil record
Circaetus rhodopensis (late Miocene of Bulgaria)[1]
- ↑ Boev, Z. 2012. Circaetus rhodopensis sp. n. (Aves, Accipitriformes) from the Late Miocene of Hadzhidimovo (SW Bulgaria). - Acta zoologica bulgarica, 64 (1): 5-12.