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Spilornis cheela( Crested serpent eagle)

The crested serpent eagle is a medium size raptor. This bird is mainly seen in forest areas. It has a beautiful black crown, the eyes are reddish yellow with a bright black spot in the center, the breast is greyish black with white spots. The life span of this bird is 50 years although it is not recorded. It feeds mainly on snakes, it also feeds on other small animals. I spotted this bird in the eastern zone of kaziranga park in Assam. It is also known as Spilornis cheela, it is found in much of mountain and jungle areas in India and also parts of Shri Lanka and Philipines, Spilornis cheela is a taxonomic species with genus spilornis. Spilornis is a genus of Asiatic and east Indian high soaring diurnal birds of prey they have long slender legs and short toes tipped by powerful claws and feed chiefly on reptiles.