Sulawesi Serpent-Eagle
Spilornis rufipectus
A large, broad-winged dark raptor. Adults show a short crest, a blackish head with yellow facial skin, a chocolate-brown back, and rust-colored underparts with extensive white speckling. In flight appears blackish with a conspicuous single broad white bar on the rear of the wings and tail. Immatures pale, with dark mask, boldly streaked underparts, and dark chocolate upperside. In flight, note extensive dark markings on underwings. Inhabits forests, edges, rice paddies, and sparsely wooded areas from lowlands to mountains. Confined to Sulawesi and the Banggai and Sula Islands. Speckled rusty underside identifies perched adults, dark mask perched immatures. In flight, distinguished from all other local raptors by white bar on rear wing and tail of adults, and by bold streaking below in immatures. Gives strident “kew” calls, sometimes with inflection: “kew-di-lew.”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Spilornis rufipectus
- Authority
- Gould, 1858
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Spilornis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
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