''Spizaetus'' is the typical hawk-eagle

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 ...

genus found in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

of the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. It was however used to indicate a group of tropical

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 ( ...

s that included species occurring in southern and southeastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and one representative of this genus in the

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s of

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. The Old World species have been separated into the genus ''

Nisaetus ''Nisaetus'', the crested hawk-eagles, is a genus of raptor in the subfamily Aquilinae, found mainly in tropical Asia. They were earlier placed within the genus '' Spizaetus'' but molecular studies show that the Old World representatives of tha ...

''. 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 birds with several species having a preference for highland woodlands. They build stick

nests A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

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 () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

prey such as mammals, birds and reptiles.

Species

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 The Flores hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus floris'') is a large raptor in the family Accipitridae. It is an endemic species to the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. A member of the genus ''Nisaetus'', it was considered as a subspecies of and conspecific ...

''Nisaetus floris'' (earlier ''Spizaetus cirrhatus floris'' or ''Spizaetus floris'') *

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 ...

, ''Nisaetus nipalensis'' (earlier ''Spizaetus nipalensis'') ** The Western Ghats and Sri Lankan race has been suggested as a full species ''

Nisaetus kelaarti William Vincent Legge, Legge's hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus kelaarti'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. It breeds in the Indian subcontinent, from southern India to Sri Lanka. Its specific name (zoology), specific ...

''.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 * Blyth's hawk-eagle, ''Nisaetus alboniger'' (earlier ''Spizaetus alboniger'') *

Changeable hawk-eagle The changeable hawk-eagle ''(Nisaetus cirrhatus)'' or crested hawk-eagle is a large bird of prey species of the family (biology), family Accipitridae. More informal or antiquated English common names include the marsh hawk-eagle or Indian crested ...

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

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 the real-life model for the Garuda Pancasila, which is also ...

, ''Nisaetus bartelsi'' (earlier ''Spizaetus bartelsi'') * Sulawesi hawk-eagle, ''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 threat ...

, ''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 Auks or alcids are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the Uria, murres, guillemots, Aethia, auklets, puffins, and Brachyramphus, murrelets. The family contains 25 extant or recently extinct speci ...

'' 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 and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of boo ...

, 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, wh ...

, London. * Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''. Comistock, Ithaca.

External links

* {{Authority control Bird genera Eagles * Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot