Spizaetus

Spizaetus
Black hawk-eagle (Spizaetus tyrannus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Accipitriformes
Family:Accipitridae
Subfamily:Aquilinae
Genus:Spizaetus
Vieillot, 1816
Species

and see text

Synonyms

Spizastur Lesson, 1839
Oroaetus Des Murs, 1845

Spizaetus is the typical hawk-eagle birds of prey genus found in the tropics of the Americas. It was however used to indicate a group of tropical eagles that included species occurring in southern and southeastern Asia and one representative of this genus in the rainforests of West Africa. The Old World species have been separated into the genus Nisaetus.[1] Several species have a prominent head crest. These are medium to large-sized raptors, most being between 55 and 75 cm (23–30 in) long, and tend to be long-tailed and slender.

The American Ornithologists' Union merges Spizastur into Spizaetus since 2007.[2]

Spizaetus eagles are forest birds with several species having a preference for highland woodlands. They build stick nests in trees. The sexes are similarly plumaged with typical raptor brown upperparts and pale underparts, but young birds are distinguishable from adults, often by a whiter head.

These eagles eat medium-sized vertebrate prey such as mammals, birds and reptiles.

The species that were historically placed in this genus are:

New World species retained in Spizaetus

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Spizaetus tyrannusBlack hawk-eagle or tyrant hawk-eaglecentral Mexico to eastern Peru, the south of Brazil, and far northern Argentina
Spizaetus melanoleucusBlack-and-white hawk-eagle, traditionally SpizasturOaxaca to Veracruz in southern Mexico southwards throughout Central America
Spizaetus ornatusOrnate hawk-eaglesouthern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, to Trinidad and Tobago, south to Peru and Argentina
Spizaetus isidoriBlack-and-chestnut eagle, traditionally Oroaetusnorthern Argentina, through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, to Venezuela

Old World species now moved to Nisaetus

Moved to Aquila

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Helbig AJ, Kocum A, Seibold I & Braun MJ (2005) A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution 35(1):147-164 PDF
  2. ↑ Banks et al. (2007)
  3. ↑ Gjershaug, J. O.; Diserud, O. H.; Rasmussen, P. C. & Warakagoda, D. (2008) "An overlooked threatened species of eagle: Legge’s Hawk Eagle Nisaetus kelaarti (Aves: Accipitriformes)" (PDF) Zootaxa 1792: 54–66

References

  • Banks, Richard C.; Chesser, R. Terry; Cicero, Carla; Dunn, Jon L.; Kratter, Andrew W.; Lovette, Irby J.; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr; Rising, James D. & Stotz, Douglas F. (2007): Forty-eighth Supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-List of North American Birds. Auk 124(3): 1109-1115. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[1109:FSTTAO]2.0.CO;2 PDF fulltext
  • Barlow, Clive (1997): A field guide to birds of The Gambia and Senegal. Pica Press, Nr. Robertsbridge (East Sussex). ISBN 1-873403-32-1
  • ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton & Eckelberry, Don R. (1991): A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2
  • Gamauf, Anita; Gjershaug, Jan-Ove; Røv, Nils; Kvaløy, Kirsti & Haring, Elisabeth (2005): Species or subspecies? The dilemma of taxonomic ranking of some South-East Asian hawk-eagles (genus Spizaetus). Bird Conservation International 15(1): 99–117. doi:10.1017/S0959270905000080 (HTML abstract)
  • Haring E., Kvaloy, K., Gjershaug, J.-O., Rov, N., Gamauf A. (2007): Convergent evolution and paraphyly of the hawk-eagles of the genus Spizaetus (Aves, Accipitridae) - phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial markers. J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Research 45: 353-365. PDF
  • Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol, Inskipp, Tim & Byers, Clive (1999): Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. ISBN 0-691-04910-6
  • Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
  • Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
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