''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 predato ...

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 ...

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 ...

of the Americas. 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, j ...

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 ...

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 rainfo ...

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, Mau ...

. 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 g ...

''. 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 ...

merges ''

Spizastur The black-and-white hawk-eagle (''Spizaetus melanoleucus'', formerly ''Spizastur melanoleucus'') is a bird of prey species in the eagle and hawk family (Accipitridae). It is found throughout a large part of tropical America, from southern Mexic ...

'' 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 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 taxon, taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with vertebral column, backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the ...

prey such as mammals,

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 lightweig ...

s and reptiles. 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 ''Nisaetus floris'' (earlier ''Spizaetus cirrhatus floris'' or ''Spizaetus floris'') * Mountain hawk-eagle, ''Nisaetus nipalensis'' (earlier ''Spizaetus nipalensis'') ** The Western Ghats and Sri Lankan race has been suggested as a full species '' Nisaetus kelaarti''.Gjershaug, J. O.; Diserud, O. H.;

Rasmussen, P. C. 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 ...

& 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, ''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 my ...

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

Sulawesi hawk-eagle The Sulawesi hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus lanceolatus'') (earlier placed under ''Spizaetus''), also known as Celebes hawk-eagle, is a medium-sized, approximately long, crestless brown raptor in the family Accipitridae. The adults have rufous-brown, bo ...

, ''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 ...

, ''Nisaetus nanus'' (earlier ''Spizaetus nanus'') Moved to ''Aquila'' * Cassin's hawk-eagle, ''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'' 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 180 ...

, 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, ...

, 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