Circaetinae Explained

Circaetinae is a subfamily of the family Accipitridae which contains a group of medium to large broad-winged birds of prey.^{[1] [2]} The group is sometimes treated as tribe Circaetini.^{[3] [4]} 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.^{[5] [6]}

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.^[7]

The following taxonomy is based on the International Ornithological Congress.^[8]

Image	Genus	Living Species
	Spilornis	Crested serpent eagle, S. cheela Bawean serpent eagle, S. (cheela) baweanus 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
	Pithecophaga	Philippine eagle, P. jefferyi
	Circaetus	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
	Dryotriorchis Shelley, 1874	Congo serpent eagle, D. spectabilis
	Terathopius	Bateleur, T. ecaudatus
	Eutriorchis	Madagascar serpent eagle, E. astur

Notes

Notes and References

1. Lerner . Heather R.L. . Mindell . David P. . Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA . 2005 . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 37 . 2 . 327–346 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.010. 15925523 . 2005MolPE..37..327L .
2. Book: Mindell . David P. . Fuchs . Jérôme . Johnson . Jeff A. . Phylogeny, taxonomy, and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes . Birds of Prey . 2018 . 3–32 . 978-3-319-73744-7 . 10.1007/978-3-319-73745-4_1 .
3. Book: Dickinson . Edward C. . James V. . Remsen Jr. . The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . ((1: Non-passerines)) . 4th . 2013 . Aves Press .
4. Web site: ACCIPITRIDAE - Kites, Hawks and Eagles . Trust for Avian Systematics . 27 March 2024 .
5. Blyth . Edward . Edward Blyth . 1851 . Conspectus of the ornithology of India, Burma, and the Malayan Peninsular, inclusiveof Sindh, Asám, Ceylon, and the Nicobar Islands . Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal . 19 . 317–342 [317, 327] .
6. Book: Bock, Walter J. . Walter Joseph Bock . 1994 . History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 222 . American Museum of Natural History . New York . 132 .
7. Catanach . T.A. . Halley . M.R. . Pirro . S. . 2024 . Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . blae028 . 10.1093/biolinnean/blae028.
8. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . December 2023 . Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors . IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 3 April 2024 .