They are generally medium-sizedbirds of prey inhabiting Europe, Asia, Africa, New Guinea and Australia. However, a recently extinct species, the New ZealandHaast's eagle, was the largest eagle ever known, weighing up to 17 kg (37 lb), with a 3 m (9.8 ft) wingspan.[3]
After DNA sequences from remains of the extinct giantHaast's eagle were found to be similar to those of the little eagle,[12] it has been reclassified fromHarpagornis moorei to the genusHieraeetus.[3]
The British Ornithological Union moved Bonelli's and booted eagles toAquila in 2005, but was silent on the position of the non-European Ayres', little, and pygmy eagles.[13]
This could create ataxonomic problem: the booted eagle is thetype species ofHieraaetus, moving it would make that name ajunior synonym ofAquila. Consequently, should any other hawk-eagles be retained as a distinct group, they would need to get a different genus name. As of 2014, the BOU lists the booted eagle on their Category D and E lists asH. pennatus, notA. pennata.[14]
Christidis and Boles (2008) used an alternative approach. Accepting that bothAquila andHieraaetus arepolyphyletic, they movedspilogaster andfasciatus to the genusAquila and retained the other formerHieraaetus group along withmorphnoides andAquila wahlbergi within the new delimitation ofHieraaetus.[15]
Sometimes the entire genus is merged intoAquila. This was the approach taken withThe Clements Checklist between 2001 and 2009: starting in the 2001 revisions to the 5th edition,[16] and retained in the printed 6th edition of 2007.[17]
The Clements Checklist, in its 2009 revisions, followed the same approach as Christidis & Boles, movingAquila wahlbergi intoHieraaetus; restoring the booted, little and Ayres' eagles back toHieraaetus.[10]
Thepygmy eagle, or New Guinea hawk-eagle,H. morphnoides weiskei was formerly considered a subspecies of the little eagleH. morphnoides; it has been recognized as a separate species by some authorities.[18]
Some authorities retain Bonelli's eagle and the African hawk-eagle inHieraaetus. Also, some retain Wahlberg's eagle inAquila, whilst still recognizingHieraaetus as a separate genus.
^Lerner & Mindell (2005)[2] found three clades containing a mixture ofAquila andHieraaetus:
A. chrysaetos,Spizaetus africanus,H. fasciatus,A. verrauxii,A. audax,A. gurneyi
A. nipalensis,A. rapax,A. heliaca.
A. wahlbergi,H. ayersii,H. morphnoides (H. m. morphnoides),H. weiskei (H. m. weiskei),H. pennatus.
^Helbiget al. (2004)[7] concluded that "Hieraaetus fasciatus/spilogaster are closest toAquila verreauxii and should be merged with that genus. Wahlberg’s eagleH. wahlbergi, formerly placed inAquila, is part of a clade including three smallHieraaetus species (pennatus,ayresii, andmorphnoides)."
^Wink & Sauer-Gürth (2004),[8] comparing sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, also found several clades within the booted eagles that did not correspond to the existing genera:
A. adalberti,A. heliaca,A. rapax,A. nipalensis
A. audax,H. spilogaster,H. fasciatus,A. verrauxii,A. chrysaetos,A. ch. daphanea
A. wahlbergi,H. pennatus,H. morphnoides
A. clanga,A. pomarina,Lophoaetus occipitalis
But they commented: "BecauseHieraaetus has been classified as a member of the genusAquila before, the molecular data would support mergingHieraaetus withAquila.
^Helbig, Andreas J.; Kocum, Annett; Seibold, Ingrid; Braun, Michael J. (2004). "A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.35 (1):147–164.Bibcode:2005MolPE..35..147H.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.10.003.PMID15737588.Smithsonian
^Wink, Michael; Sauer-Gürth, Heidi (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships in diurnal raptors based on nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear marker genes". In Chancellor, R. D.; Meyburg, B.-U. (eds.).Raptors Worldwide. WWGBP/MME. pp. 483–498.PDFalternate location
^Jan Ove Gjershaug (2006) Taxonomy and conservation status of hawk-eagles (genus Nisaetus) in South-East Asia. Thesis. Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyFulltext
^abThe Clements Checklist team (23 December 2009)."Updates & Corrections – December 2009".The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved21 June 2014.Pages 47-48, Wahlberg's EagleAquila wahlbergi, Booted EagleAquila pennata, Little EagleAquila morphnoides, Ayres's Hawk-EagleAquila ayresii. All of these eagles belong in the genusHieraaetus ... Rufous-bellied EagleAquila kienerii This species is not a member of the genusAquila; it should be placed in the monotypic genusLophotriorchis
^Haring, E.; Kvaløy, K.; Gjershaug, J.-O.; Røv, N.; Gamauf, A. (2007). "Convergent evolution and paraphyly of the hawk-eagles of the genus Spizaetus (Aves, Accipitridae) – phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial markers".Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research.45 (4):353–365.doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2007.00410.x.PDFalternate locationArchived 2014-07-14 at theWayback Machine "Despite the fact that its sister group has not been identified so far, it is advisable to separate it from the genusHieraaetus and treat it as a different genus. ... Therefore, we propose to give the monotypic speciesHieraaetus kienerii the resurrected nameLophotriorchis Sharpe, 1874."
^Clements, James F. (June 2007).The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World (6th ed.). Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. pp. 47–48.
^The Clements Checklist Team (2012)."Updates & Corrections: September 2012".The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved2 July 2014.Page 48, Little EagleHieraaetus morphnoides. Elevate the monotypic group Little Eagle (Pygmy) (Hieraaetus morphnoides weiskei) to species rank as Pygmy Eagle (Hieraaetus weiskei). Reference: Gjershaug, J.O., H.R.L. Lerner, and O.H. Diserud. 2009. Taxonomy and distribution of the Pygmy EagleAquila (Hieraaetus) weiskei (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae).Zootaxa number 2326: 24–38.
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):147-164PDF[permanent dead link]
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