Avian toupee

Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela)

We were making our way back for lunch after a somewhat disappointing walk(the hornbills were in hiding), and lo and behold! A find that made up for the hornbills going AWOL! A Crested Serpent Eagle, named as such because of it's black feathered toupee(okay so it's not quite a toupee but it sure looks like one) and it's diet which consists of a helluva lot of snake(as well as plenty of lizards).


Interestingly, it's black toupee(or as the scientists call it- crest) stands on end when it gets agitated. Unfortunately this one was all calm, and stalking him(or her) while enthusiastically clicking away at our cameras didn't seem to ruffle its feathers.

Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela)

When you first look at the bird, all you think is woah! Big bird! But it's actually considered to be a  "medium-sized" raptor. It's about 1/2 m to 3/4 m tall. Heck, there are hornbills bigger than that! Nevertheless, it is a beautiful bird and a very pleasing find! Not considered to be endangered because of it's large range, but sadly it is on the verge of extinction in Singapore. It can be found from South Asia, and throughout much of Southeast Asia and parts of China even. Its species name comes from its Hindi name- Dogra cheel.

It was rather curious that a raptor should choose to perch on relatively low branches by the road, but apparently, some have observed this predator taking the easy way out and waiting for various vehicles to come along and squash some snake. Car-cum-meat-tenderizer? Also, as already mentioned previously, it didn't seem to be too bothered by us. We'd like to think it's because we were giving off peaceful, loving vibes.

Snubbed by a Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) 

What looked like a strange bald patch on his/her head(as seen in the photo above) is actually likely to just be it's baby feathers. Juveniles/younger birds tend to have more white bits on their heads apparently. So perhaps these white bits are vestiges of its younger days? The photo taken below in Indonesia provides a better view of those little white bits of feathers that occur on the head of this magnificent eagle.

All caged up at Bandung Zoo, Indonesia

Chickening around 
[Adapted from this website on 11 August 2010]

A little strange to be seeing an animal as beautiful and majestic as this eagle is, walking around like a lowly chicken. Or maybe it's just that elitist mentality creeping into our Singaporean brains...

References

iloveindia.com. (n.d.). Home : Wildlife in India : Indian Birds : Crested Serpent Eagle : Crested Serpent Eagle Facts. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from iloveindia.com: http://www.iloveindia.com

Tsang, K. (2007, June 15). Crested Serpent Eagle: Snakes alive. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from Bird Ecology Study Group: http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/2007/06/15/crested-serpent-eagle-snakes-alive/