''Leucopternis'' is a

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bi ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

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 predato ...

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- ...

. They are associated with

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fo ...

, and are uncommon or rare. Their

plumage Plumage ( "feather") 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, ...

is largely black or gray above and white below, and they have distinctive orange

cere The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, ...

Species

Traditionally, ''Leucopternis'' contains significantly more species than given here. However, as the genus probably was

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 conver ...

, moves of species to other genera were proposed and have been accepted by 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 ...

's South American Check-list Committee and North American Check-list Committee,Chesser et al. (2012) except that the South American Committee placed the former ''L. lacernulatus'' in the existing genus ''

Buteogallus ''Buteogallus'' is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. All members of this genus are essentially neotropical, but the distribution of a single species extends slightly into the extreme southwestern United States. Many of the sp ...

'' instead of in a new genus ''Amadonastur'' by itself. The other species were placed in the genera ''

Cryptoleucopteryx The plumbeous hawk (''Cryptoleucopteryx plumbea'') is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Distribution It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It ...

'', ''

Morphnarchus The barred hawk (''Morphnarchus princeps'') is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It has also been known as the black-chested hawk. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats are s ...

'', ''

Pseudastur ''Pseudastur'' is a genus of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It contains the following species: Systematics The name ''Pseudastur'' was coined by Edward Blyth, but was first published in George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FR ...

'', and ''

''. According to this treatment, the species remaining in ''Leucopternis'' are:

Notes

References

* * Lerner & Mindell (2008). ''Molecular phylogenetics of the buteonine birds of prey (Accipitridae).'' Auk 125: 304–315. * Raposo do Amaral, Miller, Silveira, Bermingham, & Wajntal (2006). ''Polyphyly of the hawk genera Leucopternis and Buteogallus (Aves, Accipitridae): multiple habitat shifts during the Neotropical buteonine diversification.'' BMC Evol. Biol. 6: 10 * * Bird genera * Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Accipitriformes-stub