Crested serpent eagle

It has a crest of white feathers on the back of its head.

Scientific name	Spilornis cheela
English name	Crested serpent eagle
Japanese name	冠鷲
Classification	Aves
Classification details	Accipitriformes Accipitridae
Full length	55cm
Distribution	Southeast Asia. Yaeyama Islands in Japan.

Characteristics

A hawk with a crest of white feathers on the back of its head. The whole body is brown and the head is blackish brown. The belly has white spots. Yellow from the base of the eyes to the beak.

Call

It cries with a high voice, "beep beep beep" and "peep pew".

Juvenile

Juvenile Crested Serpent Eagles have white feathers covering the upper parts of their bodies, including the head, shoulder feathers, and raincoats.

Ecology

Distributed in the Yaeyama Islands in Japan. They live near paddy fields and mangroves and prey on small animals such as amphibians and reptiles. It doesn't hunt in the air too much, it catches prey near the ground. It behaves like a black kite on the mainland, such as perching on telephone poles and wires.

Habitat

Iriomote Island and Ishigaki Island

I saw them all over Iriomote Island. I was allowed to take a picture of an individual perched on a telephone pole and looking around.

I was walking around the island on a moped or a rental car, and there were Crested Serpent Eagles here and there. I found a young bird with white plumage in the rain.