[2] The short-toed snake eagle was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[4][5][6][7] The short-toed snake eagle is now placed in the genus Circaetus that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.

Additional indications are an owl-like rounded head, brightly yellow eyes and lightly barred under wing.

Those present on the northern edge of the Mediterranean and other parts of Europe migrate mainly to sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator, leaving in September/October and returning in April/May.

[20] Occasionally, they prey on small mammals up to the size of a rabbit, and rarely birds and large insects.

The short-toed snake eagle has suffered a steep decline in numbers and range in Europe and is now rare and still decreasing in several countries due to changes in agriculture and land use.

The captive bird ate mice and frogs, and he states that the Jean-de-blanc was well known by French farmers for raiding poultry.