Distribution, Taxonomy and Status
Within its widespread range across tropical Asia, 21 populations have been named as subspecies. The most widespread subspecies are the nominate from along the sub-Himalayan range in India and Nepal, melanotis in Peninsular India, spilogaster of Sri Lanka, burmanicus in most of Indochina, ricketti in northern Vietnam and southern China, malayensis of the Thai-Malay Peninsula and northern Sumatra, pallidus from northern Borneo, richmondi from southern Borneo, bido from Java and Bali, batu from southern Sumatra and Batu, hoya from Taiwan, rutherfordi from Hainan, and palawanensis from Palawan. The remaining subspecies are all restricted to smaller islands: davisoni in the Andamans, minimus (Central Nicobar Serpent Eagle) from the central Nicobars, perplexus (Ryukyu Serpent Eagle) from Ryukyu, natunensis (Natuna Serpent Eagle) from Natuna, abbotti (Simeulie Serpent Eagle) from Simeulue, sipora (Mentawai Serpent Eagle) from Mentawai, asturinus (Nias Serpent Eagle) from Nias, and baweanus (Bawean Serpent Eagle) of the Bawean. The last seven (with English names in brackets) are sometimes treated as separate species. Although the Crested Serpent Eagle remains widespread and fairly common overall, some of the taxa that are restricted to small islands are believed to have relatively small populations that likely are in the hundreds. The rarest is probably the Bawean Serpent Eagle with a declining population of about 26–37 pairs, which makes it critically endangered.
The nominate subspecies has a black throat while the peninsular Indian form has a brownish throat. There are clinal latitudinal variations, with size decreasing southward. The small islands taxa are generally smaller in size than the taxa from the Asian mainland/larger islands in a phenomenon termed as insular dwarfism.
The specific name cheela is derived from the Hindi name for kites.
Read more about this topic: Crested Serpent Eagle
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