The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Hieraaetus'', sometimes known as small eagles or hawk-eagles, denotes a group of smallish

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

s usually placed in the

accipitrid The Accipitridae is one of the three families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-s ...

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Buteoninae The Buteoninae are a subfamily of birds of prey which consists of medium to large, broad-winged species. They have large, powerful, hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, and powerful talons. They also have extremely keen ...

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Aquilinae The Aquilinae are a subfamily of eagles of the family Accipitridae. The general common name used for members of this subfamily is "booted eagle", although this is also the common name of a member of the subfamily.Lerner, H., Christidis, L., Gamau ...

. They are medium-sized

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...

inhabiting Europe, Asia, Africa, New Guinea and Australia. A recently-extinct species, the New Zealand

Haast's eagle Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei'') is an extinct species of eagle that once lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the pouakai of Māori legend.

Taxonomy and species

The genus ''Hieraaetus'' was introduced in 1844 by the German naturalist

Johann Jakob Kaup Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kaup ...

with the booted eagle as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. The name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''hierax'' meaning "hawk" with ''aetos'' meaning "eagle". Molecular genetic research has found ''Hieraaetus'' to be polyphyletic with '' Aquila''. ''

Hieraaetus kienerii The rufous-bellied eagle or rufous-bellied hawk-eagle (''Lophotriorchis kienerii'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is found in the forested regions of tropical Asia. Relatively small for eagles and contrastingly patterned like ...

'' was found to be most distinct,proof
/ref> and has been assigned to a separate genus, '' Lophotriorchis''.PDFalternate location
"Despite the fact that its sister group has not been identified so far, it is advisable to separate it from the genus ''Hieraaetus'' and treat it as a different genus. ... Therefore, we propose to give the monotypic species ''Hieraaetus kienerii'' the resurrected name ''Lophotriorchis'' Sharpe, 1874." After DNA sequences from remains of the extinct giant

Haast's eagle Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei'') is an extinct species of eagle that once lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the pouakai of Māori legend. The British Ornithological Union moved Bonelli's and booted eagles to ''Aquila'' in 2005, but was silent on the position of the non-European Ayres', little, and pygmy eagles. This could create a

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

problem: the booted eagle is the

of ''Hieraaetus'', moving it would make that name a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

of ''Aquila''. Consequently, should any other hawk-eagles be retained as a distinct group, they would need to get a different genus name. As of 2014, the BOU lists the booted eagle on their Category D and E lists as ''H. pennatus'', not ''A. pennata''. Christidis and Boles (2008) used an alternative approach. Accepting that both ''Aquila'' and ''Hieraaetus'' are

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

, they moved ''spilogaster'' and ''fasciatus'' to the genus ''Aquila'' and retained the other former ''Hieraaetus'' group along with ''morphnoides'' and ''Aquila wahlbergi'' within the new delimitation of ''Hieraaetus''.Les Christidis & Walter E Boles (2008) Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO publishing. Sometimes the entire genus is merged into ''Aquila''. This was the approach taken with ''The Clements Checklist'' between 2001 and 2009: starting in the 2001 revisions to the 5th edition, (See also similar pages for the other species.) and retained in the printed 6th edition of 2007. ''The Clements Checklist'', in its 2009 revisions, followed the same approach as Christidis & Boles, moving ''Aquila wahlbergi'' into ''Hieraaetus''; restoring the booted, little and Ayres' eagles back to ''Hieraaetus''. The

pygmy eagle The pygmy eagle or New Guinea hawk-eagle (''Hieraaetus weiskei'') is a bird of prey found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are primarily subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It was the ...

, or New Guinea hawk-eagle, ''H. morphnoides weiskei'' was formerly considered a subspecies of the little eagle ''H. morphnoides''; it has been recognized as a separate species by some authorities. The genus contains five species.

Extinct species

Former species

Some authorities retain Bonelli's eagle and the African hawk-eagle in ''Hieraaetus''. Also, some retain Wahlberg's eagle in ''Aquila'', whilst still recognizing ''Hieraaetus'' as a separate genus.

Notes

References

* 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):147-16
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* {{Taxonbar, from=Q255035 Aquilinae Bird genera