# Crested serpent eagle (*Spilornis cheela*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-serpent-eagle  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela), also called the Crested serpent-eagle, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae and the order Accipitriformes. It is a small bird by adult body mass, with a representative weight of 597.7 g, reported values from 420 to 800 g, and a wingspan of 1.53 m. This carnivore lives in forest habitat, forages by perching and is sedentary, with a geographic range of 6,837,000 km². Its clutch is 1 egg with an incubation period of 35 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 420 g – 800 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 1.53 m |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 35 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Perching |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Accipitriformes
- family: Accipitridae
- genus: Spilornis
- species: *Spilornis cheela* (Latham, 1790)

Synonyms: *Falco cheela*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the crested serpent eagle?

The crested serpent eagle is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, genus Spilornis.

### How heavy is the crested serpent eagle?

Its representative adult body mass is 597.7 g, with reported values from 420 to 800 g.

### What is the wingspan of the crested serpent eagle?

Its wingspan is 1.53 m.

### What does the crested serpent eagle eat?

It is a carnivore.

### What habitat does the crested serpent eagle live in?

It lives in forest habitat, where it forages by perching, and it is sedentary.

### Is the crested serpent eagle endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How many eggs does the crested serpent eagle lay?

It lays a clutch of 1 egg, which is incubated for 35 days.

### Who named the crested serpent eagle?

Spilornis cheela was named by Latham in 1790, written as (Latham, 1790).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-serpent-eagle