Short-toed snake eagle
Circaetus gallicus
Eduardo Campos Wals · Chaisubani, Adjara Georgia field photo
Key facts in one look
- Size
- 59–70 cm, wingspan 1.62–1.95 m
- Diet
- Mainly snakes, sometimes lizards
- Status in Georgia
- Summer breeder and passage migrant
- Recorded regions
- Kakheti, Adjara, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Kvemo Kartli and others
- Habitat
- Open country with trees, foothills
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Protection
- Globally LC (2021)
The short-toed snake eagle (Circaetus gallicus) is a large bird of prey: it is 59–70 cm long, with a wingspan of 1.62–1.95 m, and weighs 1.2–2.3 kg. It is almost white below and greyish brown above, with an earthy brown throat and upper breast. Its head is rounded and owl-like, and its eyes are bright yellow. It gets its name from its diet, which is mostly snakes. It is harmless to people. The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a breeding bird and passage migrant: it breeds in summer and does not spend the winter here. It occurs regularly in eight regions, with most records from Kakheti, Adjara and Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Globally its risk of extinction is low (LC, 2021), and its numbers are stable.
Identification
Short-toed snake eagle: how to identify it
A large, broad-winged eagle with an almost white belly, a dark, earthy brown throat, a rounded head and yellow eyes. Its tail has 3–4 bars. It often hovers in one place on fluttering wings, scanning the ground.
It is 59–70 cm long, with a wingspan of 1.62–1.95 m, and weighs 1.2–2.3 kg, about 1.7 kg on average. Its toes are short, which gives it its English name.
It is mostly white below and greyish brown above. The chin, throat and upper breast are a pale, earthy brown. The underwing is white with faint bars, and the tail has 3–4 bars. The head is rounded and owl-like, and the eyes are bright yellow.
A pale Buteo buteo is smaller, with shorter wings and a dark patch at the bend of the wing. Buteo rufinus has a pale orange tail and a dark belly. The short-toed snake eagle soars on flat wings and often hovers in one place.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
Often confused with
It is a bird of warm, open country: it lives on cultivated plains, in dry, stony scrub, foothills and semi-desert. It occurs up to 2,300 m. It needs trees for nesting and open ground, such as fields and grassland, for hunting. Its range runs from the Mediterranean basin to Russia, the Middle East, western Asia, the Indian subcontinent and some Indonesian islands. In Georgia most records come from Kakheti, around Dedoplistskaro and Sagarejo, and from Adjara, from Kobuleti Municipality, Sakhalvasho and Batumi. In Adjara almost all records fall in the September migration. It is common in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, near Gorovani, Mtskheta and Bazaleti Lake, in Kvemo Kartli, near Gardabani and Kumisi, and in Shida Kartli, at Nadarbazevi Lake and in Gori Municipality. It also occurs in Tbilisi, in Imereti, around Tskaltubo, and in Samtskhe-Javakheti. Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Abkhazia and Racha have only single records.
The short-toed snake eagle map shows public iNaturalist observations. Eight regions have enough records: Kakheti, Adjara, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Kvemo and Shida Kartli, Tbilisi, Imereti and Samtskhe-Javakheti. In Adjara it appears almost only on the September migration. Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Abkhazia and Racha have only single records. Observations run from March to October.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Region with records
It is a specialist feeder: it eats mainly reptiles, mostly snakes, and sometimes lizards. It sometimes fights larger snakes on the ground. Occasionally it catches small mammals up to the size of a rabbit, and very rarely birds and large insects. It often swallows its prey in flight.
Birds that breed in the Palearctic are migrants: most winter in tropical Africa north of the equator, and some eastern birds in the Indian subcontinent. They move south from August to November and return from February to May. The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a breeding bird and passage migrant. In Georgia records run from March to October, with most in September. It is usually seen alone or in pairs, even on migration, though it sometimes forms groups of up to 12 birds. It spends more time in the air than many other eagles: it soars on updraughts over slopes and hilltops and searches for prey from heights of up to 500 m. Over open ground it often hovers in one spot. It usually builds its nest fairly low in a tree and lays only one egg. It lives up to 17 years. It is mostly silent, and sometimes gives musical whistles.
Globally the short-toed snake eagle's risk of extinction is rated low (LC, 2021). A 2021 estimate puts the number of mature birds at 50,000–99,999, and numbers are stable. In the 19th and 20th centuries its numbers in northern Europe fell sharply because of habitat loss and persecution. In Europe changes in farming reduce its hunting grounds, while monocultures, the loss of hedgerows, pesticides and the afforestation of abandoned farmland reduce snake numbers. It is also threatened by forest fires, road building, nest destruction and electrocution on power lines. The species is listed in Appendix II of CITES and of the Bonn Convention. The 2024 Georgian checklist also rates its risk in Georgia as low (LC).
Eduardo Campos Wals · Donsky · Giorgi Natsvlishvili · rudyclaeys · leekelai · Denis Severin · Andro Solomanashvili
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Yes. The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a breeding bird and passage migrant. Observations run from March to October.
In September most often in Adjara, around Kobuleti and Batumi, on migration. In summer in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli, over open slopes and steppe.
It is a large eagle with an almost white belly, an earthy brown throat, a rounded, owl-like head and yellow eyes. It often hovers in one place.
Because it feeds mainly on snakes. It sometimes eats lizards too, and very rarely small mammals and birds.
It is 59–70 cm long, with a wingspan of 1.62–1.95 m, and weighs 1.2–2.3 kg.
No. It spends the winter in tropical Africa or the Indian subcontinent. In Georgia there are no observations from November to February.
The short-toed snake eagle is harmless to people. Globally its risk of extinction is low and its numbers are stable. The 2024 Georgian checklist also rates it LC in Georgia.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
