Crested serpent eagle

Spilornis cheela

The Crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) is a bird found in India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Forests across tropical Asia. It eats reptiles and frogs, small mammals and birds and insects and other small invertebrates. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Spilornis cheela
Region	Asia
Found in	India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka

🏡 Where the Crested serpent eagle lives

Forests across tropical Asia.

🍽️ What it eats

🦎 Reptiles & frogs60%
🐭 Mammals & birds20%
🐛 Insects & bugs10%
🐟 Fish10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It eats snakes and calls with a loud, ringing scream over the treetops.

Hear the Crested serpent eagle

Recorded by Kim Chuah Lim (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC929466. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Crested serpent eagle

Where does the Crested serpent eagle live?

The Crested serpent eagle lives in India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Forests across tropical Asia.

What does the Crested serpent eagle eat?

reptiles and frogs (about 60%), small mammals and birds (about 20%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 10%), fish (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Crested serpent eagle endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Asia

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.