''Spizaetus'' is the typical hawk-eagle

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 ...

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 ...

found in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. It was however used to indicate a group of tropical

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 that included species occurring in southern and southeastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and one representative of this genus in the

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

. The Old World species have been separated into the genus ''

Nisaetus ''Nisaetus'' (Crested hawk-eagles group) is a genus of subfamily Aquilinae found mainly in tropical Asia. They were earlier placed within the genus ''Spizaetus'' but molecular studies show that the Old World representatives were closer to the ge ...

''. Several species have a prominent head crest. These are medium to large-sized raptors, most being between long, and tend to be long-tailed and slender. The

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

merges '' Spizastur'' into ''Spizaetus'' since 2007. ''Spizaetus'' eagles are

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

birds with several species having a preference for highland

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s. They build stick

nests A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

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 Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

prey such as

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s and

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s. The species that were historically placed in this genus are: New World species retained in ''Spizaetus'' Old World species now moved to ''

'' *

Flores hawk-eagle The Flores hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus floris'') is a large raptor in the family Accipitridae. It is an endemic species to the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia.Verhoeye, J. & Holmes. D. A. (1998). ''The birds of the islands of Flores -- a review''. ...

''Nisaetus floris'' (earlier ''Spizaetus cirrhatus floris'' or ''Spizaetus floris'') *

Mountain hawk-eagle The mountain hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus nipalensis'') or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself ...

, ''Nisaetus nipalensis'' (earlier ''Spizaetus nipalensis'') ** The Western Ghats and Sri Lankan race has been suggested as a full species ''

Nisaetus kelaarti Legge's hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus kelaarti'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. It breeds in the Indian subcontinent, from southern India to Sri Lanka. Its specific name ''kelaarti'' honors the physician-zoologi ...

''.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 *

Blyth's hawk-eagle Blyth's hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus alboniger'') (earlier treated as ''Spizaetus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. It can be found in the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo. It is a bird ...

, ''Nisaetus alboniger'' (earlier ''Spizaetus alboniger'') *

Javan hawk-eagle The Javan hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus bartelsi'') is a medium-sized, dark brown raptor in the family Accipitridae. It is the national bird of Indonesia, where it is commonly referred to as Garuda, from the bird-like creatures in Hindu and Buddhist myt ...

, ''Nisaetus bartelsi'' (earlier ''Spizaetus bartelsi'') * Sulawesi hawk-eagle, ''Nisaetus lanceolatus'' (earlier ''Spizaetus lanceolatus'') * (Northern) Philippine hawk-eagle, ''Nisaetus philippensis'' (earlier ''Spizaetus philippensis'') ** Southern Philippine hawk-eagle, ''Nisaetus pinskeri'' (earlier ''Spizaetus (philippensis) pinskeri'') *

Wallace's hawk-eagle Wallace's hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus nanus'') is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found in Kra Isthmus, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is thre ...

, ''Nisaetus nanus'' (earlier ''Spizaetus nanus'') Moved to ''Aquila'' *

Cassin's hawk-eagle Cassin's hawk-eagle (''Aquila africana'') or Cassin's eagle, is a relatively small eagle in the family Accipitridae. Its feathered legs mark it as member of the Aquilinae or booted eagle subfamily. A forest-dependent species, it occurs in primary ...

, ''Aquila africana'' (earlier ''Spizaetus africanus'')

Footnotes

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 An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

'' 124(3): 1109–1115. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124 109:FSTTAO.0.CO;2PDF fulltext
* Barlow, Clive (1997): ''A field guide to birds of The Gambia and Senegal''.

Pica Press A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 1 ...

, Nr. Robertsbridge (East Sussex). * 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.. * 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. (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.. * Hilty, Steven L. (2003): ''Birds of Venezuela''.

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the ''Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar, w ...

, London. * Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''. Comistock, Ithaca.

External link

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q254660 Bird genera Eagles * Higher-level bird taxa restricted to the Neotropics Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot