| True hawks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sharp-shinned hawk | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Subfamily: | Accipitrinae |
| Genera | |
11 genera. See below. | |
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TheAccipitrinae are thesubfamily of theAccipitridae often known as the"true" hawks. The subfamily contains 73 species that are divided into 11 genera. It includes the genusAccipiter which formerly included many more species. The large genus was found to be non-monophyletic and was split into several new or resurrected genera. The birds in this subfamily are primarilywoodlandbirds 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 thanhumans, in part because of the great number ofphotoreceptor cells in theirretinas (up to 1,000,000 per square mm, against 200,000 for humans), a very high number ofnerves connecting the receptors to thebrain, and an indentedfovea, which magnifies the central portion of thevisual field. Eagles, such as the bald eagle in the familyButeoninae, are also included in this family.
A series ofmolecular phylogenetic studies found that the genusAccipiter was non-monophyletic.[1] The results of a densely sampled 2024 study of the Accipitridae allowed the generic boundaries to be redefined.[2] To create monophyletic genera, species were moved fromAccipiter to five new or resurrected genera leaving only 9 species inAccipiter.[3] The southeast Asiancrested goshawk and theSulawesi goshawk were found to be only distantly related to other species inAccipiter. They were moved to a resurrected genusLophospiza, the only genus placed in the newsubfamily Lophospizinae. Similarly, the very small south Americatiny hawk andsemicollared hawk were found to be only distantly related to species inAccipiter. They were moved to a newly erected genusMicrospizias which together withHarpagus is placed in the subfamilyHarpaginae. The generaCircus,Megatriorchis, andErythrotriorchis were found to be nested withinAccipiter. Rather than subsuming these genera into an expandedAccipiter, species were moved fromAccipiter to the resurrected generaAerospiza,Tachyspiza andAstur.[3]
The genus levelcladogram of the Accipitrinae shown below is based on amolecular phylogenetic study of the Accipitridae by Therese Catanach and collaborators that was published in 2024.[2] The number of species in each genus is based on the list maintained byFrank Gill,Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of theInternational Ornithological Committee (IOC).[3]
| Accipitrinae |
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The subfamily Accipitrinae contains 73 species that are arranged into 11 genera:[3]
| Image | Genus | Living species |
|---|---|---|
.jpg) | MicronisusG.R. Gray, 1840 |
|
.jpg) | UrotriorchisSharpe, 1874 |
|
 | MelieraxG.R. Gray, 1840 |
|
 | KaupifalcoBonaparte, 1854 |
|
 | AerospizaRoberts, 1922 |
|
 | TachyspizaKaup, 1844 |
|
 | ErythrotriorchisSharpe, 1875 |
|
 | AccipiterBrisson, 1760 |
|
.jpg) | AsturLacépède, 1799 |
|
 | MegatriorchisSalvadori & D'Albertis, 1875 |
|
 | CircusLacépède, 1799 |
|
Hawks are sometimes used infalconry, a sport in which trainedbirds of prey are flown at smallgame forsport.