snake eagle, the brown snake eagle ( Circaetus cinereus), rivals the bateleur in most aspects of size including body mass but possesses a rather longer tail and slightly shorter but broader wings. Additionally, the widespread and slightly broader-winged short-toed snake eagle and proportionately long and slender-winged black-breasted snake eagle (Circaetus pectoralis) can be nearly as large in wingspan as the bateleur but tend to be somewhat less heavy. The total length of the bateleur is . Typical length of a full-grown bird is around . The wingspan of bateleurs can vary from . Body mass of bateleurs can vary from . One sample of 10 unsexed bateleurs weighed an average of while a smaller sample of three weighed an average of . Additionally, a median body mass of was cited in one study. The bateleur evidences some sexual dimorphism in favour of the female as is expected in raptorial birds but this size difference is fairly minimal relative to many other accipitrids, averaging up to about 6%. Among standard measurements, males have a wing chord length of while that of the female is . In tail length, adult males measure and can be even shorter in adult females at , in some cases the adult’s tail may reportedly measure as short as . This contrasts with the tail of juvenile bateleurs which measures . The tarsus can measure from in males and in females. Unsexed adult bateleurs in Tsavo East National Park were found to average in wing chord length, with a range of in culmen length and a relatively small hind claw length of . While the hind or hallux claw is usually the most enlarged in most species of accipitrid, on the other hand in the Tsavo East bateleurs, unusually the middle claw on the front of the foot was slightly larger at . Notably the proportions of bateleurs are similar to snake eagles with robust feet with rough, thick skin and short talons, the bateleur in particular having very thick, large toes structurally almost like those of a big owl and very sharp talons reminiscent in sharpness of highly predaceous larger African raptors. Further like snake eagles, bateleurs have a rather large headed but with a smallish beak coupled with a large gape. These adaptations generally equip the subfamily to better handle and ingest snakes relative to other accipitrids. Identification The bateleur, particularly in its adult plumage,