Great Nicobar serpent eagle
Spilornis klossi Richmond, 1902
The great nicobar serpent eagle (Spilornis klossi) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 420 g to 800 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.
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Quick facts about the great nicobar serpent eagle
- Weight
- 420 g – 800 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 85 cm – 95 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 35 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the great nicobar serpent eagle?
Where does the great nicobar serpent eagle live?
Not recorded
What is the great nicobar serpent eagle?
The Great Nicobar serpent eagle (Spilornis klossi), also known as the South Nicobar serpent eagle, is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is probably the smallest known eagle, with a weight of about 450 g (0.99 lb), a wingspan of 85 to 95 cm (33 to 37 in) and a body length of about 38 to 42 cm (15 to 17 in). It is endemic to forest on the Indian island of Great Nicobar. It is threatened by habitat loss.
All major authorities now treat the Great Nicobar serpent eagle as a species, but in the past it was sometimes considered a subspecies of S. minimus. Today S. minimus is either considered a subspecies of the crested serpent eagle or a monotypic species from the central Nicobar Islands, the Central Nicobar serpent eagle.
From the Wikipedia article “Great Nicobar serpent eagle” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Nicobar_serpent_eagle&oldid=1348371208), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the great nicobar serpent eagle endangered?
The great nicobar serpent eagle is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the great nicobar serpent eagle classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae
- genusSpilornis
- SpeciesSpilornis klossi Richmond, 1902
Synonyms Spilornis cheela klossi, Spilornis minimus klossi
Other names and names in other languages (44)
- Great Nicobar serpent-eagleEnglish
- Great Nicobar serpent-eagleEnglish
- Kloss's serpent-eagleEnglish
- Nicobar serpent-eagleEnglish
- عقاب الأفعى نيكوبار الكبرىArabic
- গ্রেট নিকোবর সর্প ঈগলBangla
- Serpentari de les NicobarCatalan
- àguila serpera de les illes NicobarCatalan
- orlík KlossůvCzech
- orlík nikobarskýCzech
- NicobarslangeørnDanish
- Store Nicobar-slangeørnDanish
- Kloss-SchlangenweiheGerman
- NikobarenschlangenadlerGerman
- nikobara serpentagloEsperanto
- Culebrera de NicobarSpanish
- Águila Culebrera de Nicobar MayorSpanish
- Culebrera de Gran NicobarSpanish
- Culebrera de las NicobarSpanish
- nicobari maduhaugasEstonian
- عقاب مارخور نیکوبار جنوبیPersian
- pikkuharjakotkaFinnish
- Serpentaire menuFrench
- Serpentaire des NicobarFrench
- nikobári kígyászsasHungarian
- Serpentario delle NicobareItalian
- ニコバルカンムリワシJapanese
- nikobarinis didysis gyvatėdisLithuanian
- Groot-NicobarslangenarendDutch
- nikobarsnokørnNorwegian
- wężojad nikobarskiPolish
- águia-cobreira-pequenaPortuguese
- águia-cobreira-de-nicobarPortuguese
- águia-serpentária-pequenaPortuguese
- Никобарский змееядRussian
- Никобарский хохлатый змееядRussian
- Южной никобарский хохлатый змееядRussian
- hadiar nikobarskýSlovak
- Nikobarski zmijarSerbian
- nikobarhjälmörnSwedish
- Nikobar Yılan KartalıTurkish
- змієїд нікобарськийUkrainian
- 尼岛蛇雕Chinese
- 尼科巴蛇鵰〔大尼科巴蛇鵰〕Chinese
Relatives of the great nicobar serpent eagle
Other species in the same genus Spilornis.
Crested serpent eagle
Spilornis cheela
Andaman serpent eagle
Spilornis elgini
Mountain serpent eagle
Spilornis kinabaluensis
Sulawesi serpent eagle
Spilornis rufipectus
Philippine serpent eagle
Spilornis holospilus
CompareGreat Nicobar serpent eagle vs Crested serpent eagleGreat Nicobar serpent eagle vs Andaman serpent eagleGreat Nicobar serpent eagle vs Mountain serpent eagleGreat Nicobar serpent eagle vs Sulawesi serpent eagle
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the great nicobar serpent eagle?
An adult great nicobar serpent eagle weighs 420 g – 800 g and has a wingspan of 85 cm – 95 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the great nicobar serpent eagle endangered?
The great nicobar serpent eagle is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the great nicobar serpent eagle?
The great nicobar serpent eagle (Spilornis klossi) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · 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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Great Nicobar serpent eagle (Spilornis klossi). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-nicobar-serpent-eagle
“Great Nicobar serpent eagle (Spilornis klossi).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-nicobar-serpent-eagle.
@misc{great_nicobar_serpent_eagle_2026,
title = {Great Nicobar serpent eagle (Spilornis klossi)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-nicobar-serpent-eagle},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}