The Accipitrinae are the

subfamily 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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of the

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

often known as the "true" hawks. The subfamily contains 73 species that are divided into 11 genera. It includes the genus ''

Accipiter ''Accipiter'' () is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Some species are called sparrowhawks, but there are many sparrowhawks in other genera such as '' Tachyspiza''. These birds are slender with short, broad, rounded wings and ...

'' which formerly included many more species. The large genus was found to be non-

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

and was split into several new or resurrected genera. The birds in this subfamily are primarily

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), 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 sunli ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s that hunt by sudden dashes from a concealed perch, with long tails, broad wings and high visual acuity facilitating this lifestyle. Hawks, including the accipitrines, are believed to have vision several times sharper than

humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

, in part because of the great number of

photoreceptor cell A photoreceptor cell is a specialized type of neuroepithelial cell found in the retina that is capable of visual phototransduction. The great biological importance of photoreceptors is that they convert light (visible electromagnetic radiation ...

s in their

retina The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...

s (up to 1,000,000 per square mm, against 200,000 for humans), a very high number of

nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons). Nerves have historically been considered the basic units of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the Electrochemistry, electrochemical nerv ...

s connecting the receptors to the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

, and an indented

fovea Fovea () (Latin for "pit"; plural foveae ) is a term in anatomy. It refers to a pit or depression in a structure. Human anatomy *Fovea centralis of the retina * Fovea buccalis or dimple * Fovea of the femoral head * Trochlear fovea of the fr ...

, which magnifies the central portion of the

visual field The visual field is "that portion of space in which objects are visible at the same moment during steady fixation of the gaze in one direction"; in ophthalmology and neurology the emphasis is mostly on the structure inside the visual field and it i ...

. Eagles, such as the Bald Eagle in the family

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 ...

are also included in this family. A series of

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies found that the genus ''Accipiter'' was non-

. The results of a densely sampled 2024 study of the Accipitridae allowed the generic boundaries to be redefined. To create monophyletic genera, species were moved from ''Accipiter'' to five new or resurrected genera leaving only 9 species in ''Accipiter''. The southeast Asian

crested goshawk The crested goshawk (''Lophospiza trivirgata'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is widely distributed in tropical Asia. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Accipiter''. Taxonomy The crested goshawk was formally described in 1 ...

and the

Sulawesi goshawk The Sulawesi goshawk (''Lophospiza griseiceps'') is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moi ...

were found to be only distantly related to other species in ''Accipiter''. They were moved to a resurrected genus ''

Lophospiza ''Lophospiza'' is a genus of Asian birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is the only genus in the subfamily Lophospizinae. The two species placed in this genus were formerly placed in the genus ''Accipiter''. Taxonomy The genus ''Lophos ...

'', the only genus placed in the new

Lophospizinae. Similarly, the very small south America tiny hawk and

semicollared hawk The semicollared hawk (''Microspizias collaris'') is a rare bird of prey species in the family Accipitridae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is potent ...

were found to be only distantly related to species in ''Accipiter''. They were moved to a newly erected genus ''

Microspizias ''Microspizias'' is a genus of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It contains the following species: * Tiny hawk (''Microspizias superciliosus'') * Semicollared hawk (''Microspizias collaris'') Both species were formerly classified in th ...

'' which together with ''

Harpagus Harpagus, also known as Harpagos (Ancient Greek Ἅρπαγος; Akkadian: ''Arbaku''), was a Median general during the 6th century BC, credited by Herodotus as having put Cyrus the Great on the throne through his defection during the Battle of ...

'' is placed in the subfamily

Harpaginae Harpaginae is a subfamily of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. The species are found in Central and South America. The subfamily was introduced (as Harpageae) by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854 with '' Harpagus'' Vig ...

. The genera ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

'', ''

Megatriorchis Doria's hawk or Doria's goshawk (''Megatriorchis doriae'') is a raptor in the family Accipitridae that lives in the Indonesia and Papua New Guinea areas. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Megatriorchis''. Within the family, it is rela ...

'', and ''

Erythrotriorchis ''Erythrotriorchis'' is a genus of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Species It contains the following species: Etymology "Erythro-" is from a Greek word for "red", and "triorchis" meant a kind of hawk thought to have three test ...

'' were found to be nested within ''Accipiter''. Rather than subsuming these genera into an expanded ''Accipiter'', species were moved from ''Accipiter'' to the resurrected genera ''

Aerospiza ''Aerospiza'' is a genus containing goshawks and a sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae that are found in Africa. The two species in the genus were formerly placed in the genus ''Accipiter''. Taxonomy The genus ''Aerospiza'' was introduced in ...

'', ''

Tachyspiza ''Tachyspiza'' is a genus containing goshawks and sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae. The species were formerly placed in the genus ''Accipiter''. Taxonomy The genus ''Tachyspiza'' was introduced in 1844 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob ...

'' and ''

Astur Astur may refer to: *an inhabitant of the northwest of Hispania - see Astures *Astur (genus), a bird genus (sometimes included in the genus ''Accipiter'') * Astur (typeface) *Astur CF Astur Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Ovi ...

''. The genus level

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

of the Accipitrinae shown below is based on a

study of the Accipitridae by Therese Catanach and collaborators that was published in 2024. The number of species in each genus is based on the list maintained by Frank Gill,

Pamela C. Rasmussen Pamela Cecile Rasmussen (born October 16, 1959) is an American ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State University. She ...

and David Donsker on behalf of the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

(IOC).

Species

The subfamily Accipitrinae contains 73 species that are arranged into 11 genera:

Hawks and humans

Hawks are sometimes used in

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

, a sport in which trained

birds 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 ...

are flown at small

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

for

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

References

External links

Hawk videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
Hawk photos
taken on the central coast of California. {{Taxonbar, from=Q940115 Bird subfamilies Birds of prey Accipitridae