Legge Legge is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alexander Legge (1866–1933), US businessman, president of International Harvester *Anthony Legge (1939–2013), British archaeologist specialized in zooarchaeology *Arthur Kaye Legge K ...

's hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus kelaarti'') is a

bird 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 predat ...

. Like all

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, j ...

s, it is in the family

Accipitridae 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 ...

. It breeds in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, from southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to Sri Lanka. Its specific name ''kelaarti'' honors the physician-zoologist E.F. Kelaart. Legge's hawk-eagle is a medium-sized eagle and fairly large-sized raptor. The typical adult has brown upperparts and pale underparts, with barring on the undersides of the flight feathers and tail. The breast and belly are heavily streaked. The wings are broad with a curved trailing edge, and are held in a shallow V in flight. Sexes are similar, but young birds are often whiter-headed.

Legge's hawk-eagle was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the

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 ...

, but it is smaller and has unstreaked buff underwing coverts. A 2008 study based on the geographic isolation and differences in call suggested that this be treated as a full species, ''Nisaetus kelaarti''.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 When all standard measurements are considered, Legge's hawk-eagles average about 5-10% smaller than mountain hawk eagles, although Legge's tail length is slightly greater on average. Furthermore, one male from Sri Lanka weighed , slightly less than most male mountain hawk-eagles. In average total length, males Legge's hawk-eagles average about and females average about . It is a bird of mountain woodland that builds a stick nest in a tree and lays usually a single

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

in a clutch. Legge's hawk-eagles eat small mammals, birds and reptiles. Despite its relatively modest size, Legge's hawk-eagle is a powerful predator with large talons, like many booted eagles, and is sometimes known to occasionally pursue prey as heavy or heavier than itself. This may include

Indian peafowl The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and ...

, estimated to weigh .Fam, S. D., & Nijman, V. (2011). ''Spizaetus hawk-eagles as predators of arboreal colobines''. Primates, 52(2), 105-110. File:SpizaetusKelaarti.jpg, ''Nisaetus kelaarti''

Notes

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2827839 Legge's hawk-eagle Birds of South India Birds of Sri Lanka Legge's hawk-eagle Legge's hawk-eagle