Crested Serpent-Eagle

The crested serpent-eagle is a medium-large, stocky dark brown eagle of forested habitats across tropical Asia, with rounded wings, a short tail and a short black-and-white fan-shaped crest that gives a thick-necked look. The bare facial skin and feet are yellow, and the underside is spotted white and yellowish-brown. In soaring flight the broad wings are held in a shallow V, and the tail and flight feathers show broad white bars (Wikipedia, general species account).

It calls often with a loud, piercing two- or three-note call and flies over the canopy. It often feeds on snakes, which gave it its name. Several forms are treated as separate species by some authorities, and island forms once counted as subspecies are now split. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).