The crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) is a medium-sized bird of prey that is found in forested habitats across tropical Asia.

The face is bare and yellow joining up with the ceres while the powerful feet are unfeathered and heavily scaled.

They fly over the forest canopy on broad wings and tail have wide white and black bars.

This medium-large, dark brown eagle is stocky, with rounded wings and a short tail.

[5] This species of serpent eagle manifests an unusual amount of size variation across its assorted subspecies.

[2][17] Within its widespread range across tropical Asia, 21 subspecies have been proposed:[2] The remaining sub-species are all restricted to smaller islands: The last seven (with English names in brackets) are sometimes treated as separate species.

[2] The rarest is probably the Bawean serpent eagle with a declining population of about 26–37 pairs, which makes it critically endangered.

[18][17][19][20] The crested serpent eagle is a reptile eater which hunts over forests, often close to wet grassland,[21] for snakes and lizards.

It has also been observed to prey on birds, amphibians, mammals, fishes, termites and large earthworms.

[27] A radio-telemetric study of the species in Taiwan found that the birds spend 98% of the day perched and usually finding food in the morning hours.

[5][30][31][32] Several species of endoparasitic nematodes have been recovered from the intestines of crested serpent eagles, including Madelinema angelae.

[33][34] Avian pox virus infections which cause warts on the face have been observed in a wild bird living in Taiwan.

They have also been found to visit the nests of the eagles to collect fur from the remains of dead mammal prey.