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Short-toed Snake Eagle (Circaetus gallicus) Alternate name(s): "Short-toed Eagle" German name(s): "Schlangenadler" Size: 62-69 cm; wing span 1.6-1.8 m Body mass: 1.2-2.3 kg Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.45-0.65

Europe: Family Group 6 Family Group 6 Table Lammergeier Eurasian Black Vulture Griffon Vulture Rueppell's Vulture Egyptian Vulture Osprey White-tailed Eagle Golden Eagle Spanish Imperial Eagle Short-toed Snake Eagle Bonelli's Eagle Booted Eagle Greater Spotted Eagle Red Kite Black Kite European Honey Buzzard Common Buzzard Rough-legged Buzzard Long-legged Buzzard Western Marsh Harrier Hen Harrier Montagu's Harrier Pallid Harrier Black-winged Kite Eurasian Goshawk Eurasian Sparrowhawk Gyrfalcon Lanner Falcon Peregrine Falcon Common Kestrel Lesser Kestrel Red-footed Falcon Merlin Eurasian Hobby Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Short-toed Snake Eagles are large raptors. Both sexes look alike. Their plumage is cryptic. The underparts are primarily grey, with a fine pattern of brown dots on the ends of the feathers, on both wings and body. Head, neck, mantle and upperwing coverts are dark greyish-brown. The dark head and neck create the impression of a "bib" when seen from below. The flight feathers on the upperwings are darker greyish-brown than the body plumage. Short-toed Snake Eagles are able to raise their head feathers into a small crest, making the head look large and fierce, with an appearance that is similar to a harrier or an owl. The irises are orange. The short, hooked bill is grey, with a dark tip, while legs and feet are grey. Short-toed Snake Eagles do not have "trousers". Juveniles have lighter greyish-brown head, neck, mantle and upperwing coverts than adults. They also have less brown spots on their underparts. As opposed to the Common Buzzard, the Short-toed Snake Eagle's tail has 3 or 4 well-spaced, clearly defined bars.

Taxonomy, classification See Short-toed Snake Eagle at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Short-toed Snake Eagle is available HERE . Short-toed Snake Eagles are a partly migratory, partly sedentary species. The only sedentary population resides on the Indian subcontinent. Everywhere else they are migratory. Their breeding range extends through most of southern and south-eastern Europe (except most of Italy), eastern Europe into central western Asia, Asia Minor and southwards to the Sinai peninsula, along the near-coastal regions of the Middle East, into central Iran and Kazakhstan. There is also a breeding population in central Asia, in the border region of Mongolia with northern China. The migratory Eurasian population overwinters in sub-Saharan Africa, except the eastern near-coastal region in Ethiopia towards the Red Sea. In Europe the Short-toed Snake Eagle is most common in Iberia and rare elsewhere within its range (the southern half of France, north-western Italy, all of south-eastern Europe and eastern Europe from eastern Poland and the Baltic States to the Caspian Sea). With a preference for reptiles for food, Short-toed Snake Eagles are primarily found in open, arid and often mountainous country with scattered vegetation. In the northern parts of their range, where arid regions are scarce, they also hunt in river valleys.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports spotting Short-toed Snake Eagle along Rio Douro, Miranda do Douro, Braganca, Portugal, in May 2018. Since then, others are found occasionally in the area from the Tejo estuary to Mora, Evora, Portugal. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by J. Pires.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2025]

Near-lateral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2022]

Near-lateral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle looking downward (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2022]

Near-lateral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2022]

Lateral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Cabecao, Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2025]

Near-dorsal view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle looking backwards (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2025]

Dorsal view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2019]

Frontal view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Cabecao, Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2025]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight; note the predominantly light-grey underparts with darker barring and the dark-brown head and neck (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Rio Douro, Miranda do Douro, Braganca, Portugal, May 2018]

Near-lateral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Pavia, Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2025]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Cabecao, Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2025]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Cabecao, Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2025]

Lateral/ventral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2022]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Cabecao, Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2025]

Ventral view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2022]

Ventral view of two Short-toed Snake Eagles in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vale Santo, Vila do Bispo, Faro, Algarve, Portugal, October 2024]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Short-toed Snake Eagle (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira de Vilarelhos, Alfandega da Fe, Braganca, Portugal, July 2022]

Frontal/ventral view of a juvenile Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, April 2023]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a juvenile Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight; note the very pale underwings, with few spots/bars
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, August 2022]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a juvenile Short-toed Snake Eagle in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Single/pair

Food, Diet

As their name already suggests, Short-toed Snake Eagles have a preference for snakes and amphibians.

Short-toed Snake Eagle with its prey, a small snake or a legless lizard (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, July 2019]

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