Andaman Serpent Eagle

The Andaman serpent eagle, also called the Andaman dark-serpent eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey found in India only on the Andaman Islands. It is nearly entirely dark brown apart from a bright yellow face and legs, with spots on the tops of the wings and on the chest, thick black bands on the tail and white and black bands on the underside of the wings. The hooked beak is used to tear apart food. Its call is three or four short chip-like whistles (Wikipedia, general species account).

It uses mangrove marshes and creeks as nesting sites. As its name suggests it eats snakes, and also other birds, rats, frogs and other reptiles. Unlike the crested serpent eagle it is very poorly studied, and much of its behaviour and ecology is unknown. SoIB 2023 rates it a High conservation priority, an island endemic with a Restricted range of about 5,300 km² and a rapid current decline of nearly 7% a year (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).