NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Andaman Serpent Eagle
Spilornis elgini (Blyth, 1863)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Andaman Serpent Eagle
Albinjacob · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Andaman serpent eagle (Spilornis elgini), also known as the Andaman dark-serpent eagle or the dark serpent eagle, is a medium-sized bird in the family Accipitridae, the raptor family, that is only found in India on the Andaman Islands. It is currently classified as vulnerable and is experiencing population declines. This species, unlike the Crested serpent eagle, is incredibly understudied and so many things about its behaviour and ecology are still widely unknown.
Wikipedia contributors, Andaman serpent eagle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:20:42.079522+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Spilornis elgini (Blyth, 1863)
- Name authority
- (Blyth, 1863)
- Common name
- Andaman Serpent Eagle
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Spilornis
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
- genusSpilornis G. R. Gray, 1840
- speciesSpilornis elgini (Blyth, 1863)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Spilornis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Crested Serpent EagleSpilornis cheela (Latham, 1790) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Philippine Serpent EagleSpilornis holospilus (Vigors, 1831) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Great Nicobar Serpent EagleSpilornis klossi Richmond, 1902 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sulawesi Serpent EagleSpilornis rufipectus Gould, 1858 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mountain Serpent EagleSpilornis kinabaluensis W. L. Sclater, 1919 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Haematornis elgini Blyth, 1863 Blyth, 1863 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563061 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4Z4FN. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.