The pygmy eagle or New Guinea hawk-eagle (''Hieraaetus weiskei'') is a

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are primarily

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

. It is one of the smallest species of

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

Taxonomy

The pygmy eagle was described by German naturalist

Anton Reichenow Anton Reichenow (1 August 1847 in Charlottenburg – 6 July 1941 in Hamburg) was a German ornithologist and Herpetology, herpetologist. Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Natural History Museum, Berlin, Natural Histor ...

as ''Eutolmaetus weiskei'' in 1900. It was subsequently considered a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the little eagle or a distinct species. Gjershaug and colleagues analysed it genetically and found it distinct enough to warrant species status. The

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", ...

(IOC) subsequently recognised it as a distinct species. "Pygmy eagle" has been designated the official name by the IOC.

Description

Size

The pygmy eagle is one of the world's smallest-known species of

and smallest living member of the Aquilinae subfamily, only rivaled by the Great Nicobar serpent eagle in diminutive size by all modern species referred to as eagles. Pygmy eagle measures in length. The wingspan measures . The female eagle is slightly larger than the male. One male pygmy eagle was found to weigh . One study estimated the body mass of males of the species to fall around while that of females to fall around .Parry, S. J. (2001). ''The booted eagles (Aves: Accipitridae): perspectives in evolutionary biology''. University of London, University College London (United Kingdom).

Identification

The pygmy eagle shares many characteristics with its counterpart the little eagle. The most notable differences are color. The pygmy eagle has darker more pronounced streaks on the nape, crown and ventral. The bird also shares characteristics with the booted eagle, both eagles have a unique underwing pattern. The

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

of the pygmy eagle can vary depending on the morph, light or dark. The dark morph is very similar to the dark morph of the little eagle, while the light morph shows the most differences that occur in the dark streaking. The dark morph seems to be rarer as 10 out of 11 field sightings have been the light morph. The feet of the eagle are described as grey or dull yellow.

Voice

The voice of the pygmy eagle has been described as a "''sip sip yeeee''" during flights. The call can also be compared to the little eagle and booted eagle. The bird has also been observed giving a weaker single tone squeal.

Distribution and habitat

The pygmy eagle primarily resides in lowland forests and forest edges in

. They enjoy nesting in closed forestry but have also been seen in open habitat and forest edges. The bird seems to be sparsely distributed throughout the hilly forests of New Guinea; however much of the forests of New Guinea are inaccessible so the eagle may be more abundant than it seems. One of the densely forested parts of New Guinea is Vogelkop or Bird's Head Peninsula. The pygmy eagle has been observed nineteen times in the Vogelkop over three years. It has also been observed on the island

Buru Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon Island, Ambon and Seram Island, Seram island ...

and in the northern

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

Food

Pygmy eagles have been seen soaring and diving on prey in forest canopies. The raptor is capable of very swift dives and attacks other avians such as the brown cuckoo-dove and mountain fruit-dove. Usually, the raptor low soars over the canopy scanning for prey and then dives on other birds in the canopy.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1275878 pygmy eagle pygmy eagle Birds of prey of New Guinea pygmy eagle Taxa named by Anton Reichenow Taxonomy articles created by Polbot