Circaetinae

Circaetinae is a subfamily of the family Accipitridae which contains a group of medium to large broad-winged birds of prey.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The group is sometimes treated as tribe Circaetini.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These birds mainly specialise in feeding on snakes and other reptiles, which is the reason most are referred to as "snake-eagles" or "serpent-eagles". The exceptions are the bateleur, a more generalised hunter, and the Philippine eagle, which preys on mammals and birds.

All but one of the subfamily are restricted to warmer parts of the Old World: Spilornis and Pithecophaga in south Asia, the others in Africa. The short-toed eagle Circaetus gallicus migrates between temperate Eurasia and Africa, as well as being resident in India.

They have hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs and powerful talons. They also have extremely keen eyesight to enable them to spot potential prey from a distance.

Taxonomy

The subfamily Circaetinae was introduced in 1851 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth with Circaetus as the type genus.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The genus level cladogram of the Circaetinae shown below is based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the Accipitridae by Therese Catanach and collaborators that was published in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:Clade

The following taxonomy is based on the International Ornithological Congress.<ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Image	Genus	Living Species
File:Andaman Serpent Eagle Albin 1.jpg	Spilornis Template:Small	Crested serpent eagle, S. cheela Great Nicobar serpent eagle, S. klossi Mountain serpent eagle, S. kinabaluensis Sulawesi serpent eagle, S. rufipectus Philippine serpent eagle, S. holospilus Andaman serpent eagle, S. elgini
File:Philippine eagle 2.jpg	Pithecophaga Template:Small	Philippine eagle, P. jefferyi
File:Brown snake eagle, Kruger National Park (38184851511).jpg	Circaetus Template:Small	Congo serpent eagle, C. spectabilis Short-toed snake eagle, C. gallicus Beaudouin's snake eagle, C. beaudouini Black-chested snake eagle, C. pectoralis Brown snake eagle, C. cinereus Southern banded snake eagle, C. fasciolatus Western banded snake eagle, C. cinerascens
File:BateleurKNP.JPG	Terathopius Template:Small	Bateleur, T. ecaudatus
File:EutriorchisAsturKeulemans.jpg	Eutriorchis Template:SmallTemplate:Refn	Madagascar serpent eagle, E. astur

References

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