Spizaetus
Black hawk-eagle (Spizaetus tyrannus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Aquilinae
Genus: Spizaetus
Vieillot, 1816
Type species
Falco ornatus[1]
Daudin, 1800
Species

and see text

Synonyms

Spizastur Lesson, 1839[verification needed]
Oroaetus Des Murs, 1845

Spizaetus is the typical hawk-eagle birds of prey genus found in the tropics of the Americas. It was however used to indicate a group of tropical eagles that included species occurring in southern and southeastern Asia and one representative of this genus in the rainforests of West Africa. The Old World species have been separated into the genus Nisaetus.[2] Several species have a prominent head crest. These are medium to large-sized raptors, most being between 55 and 75 cm (21.5 and 29.5 in) long, and tend to be long-tailed and slender.

The American Ornithologists' Union merges Spizastur into Spizaetus since 2007.[3]

Spizaetus eagles are forest birds with several species having a preference for highland woodlands. 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 prey such as mammals, birds and reptiles.

The species that were historically placed in this genus are:

New World species retained in Spizaetus

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Spizaetus tyrannus Black hawk-eagle or tyrant hawk-eagle central Mexico to eastern Peru, the south of Brazil, and far northern Argentina
Spizaetus melanoleucus Black-and-white hawk-eagle, traditionally Spizastur Oaxaca to Veracruz in southern Mexico southwards throughout Central America
Spizaetus ornatus Ornate hawk-eagle southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, to Trinidad and Tobago, south to Peru and Argentina
Spizaetus isidori Black-and-chestnut eagle Northern Andes (including Venezuelan coastal range and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta)

Old World species now moved to Nisaetus

Moved to Aquila

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Accipitridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. ^ Helbig AJ, Kocum A, Seibold I & Braun MJ (2005) A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution 35(1):147-164 PDF[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Banks et al. (2007)
  4. ^ 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

References

External links

Genera of eagles, condors and their extinct allies
Taxon identifiers
Authority control databases: National
Categories