Accipitrinae

True hawk
	Sharp-shinned hawk
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Subfamily:	Accipitrinae
Genera
	11 genera. See below.

Last updated September 30, 2024

The Accipitrinae are the subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks. The subfamily contains 73 species that are divided into 11 genera. It includes the genus Accipiter 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 primarily woodland birds 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 than humans, in part because of the great number of photoreceptor cells in their retinas (up to 1,000,000 per square mm, against 200,000 for humans), a very high number of nerves connecting the receptors to the brain, and an indented fovea, which magnifies the central portion of the visual field.

A series of molecular phylogenetic studies found that the genus Accipiter 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 from Accipiter to five new or resurrected genera leaving only 9 species in Accipiter.^[3] The southeast Asian crested goshawk and the Sulawesi goshawk were found to be only distantly related to other species in Accipiter. They were moved to a resurrected genus Lophospiza , the only genus placed in the new subfamily Lophospizinae. Similarly, the very small south America tiny hawk and semicollared hawk were found to be only distantly related to species in Accipiter. They were moved to a newly erected genus Microspizias which together with Harpagus is placed in the subfamily Harpaginae. The genera Circus , Megatriorchis , and Erythrotriorchis were found to be nested within Accipiter. Rather than subsuming these genera into an expanded Accipiter, species were moved from Accipiter to the resurrected genera Aerospiza , Tachyspiza and Astur .^[3]

The genus level cladogram of the Accipitrinae shown below is based on a molecular 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 by Frank Gill, Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).^[3]

Accipitrinae

Micronisus – gabar goshawk

	Urotriorchis – long-tailed hawk

	Melierax – chanting goshawks (3 species)

Kaupifalco – lizard buzzard

	Aerospiza – sparrowhawk, goshawks (3 species, formerly in Accipiter)

	Tachyspiza – goshawks, sparrowhawks (27 species, formerly in Accipiter)

Erythrotriorchis – goshawks (2 species)

Accipiter – hawks, sparrowhawks (9 species)

Astur – hawks, sparrowhawk, goshawks (9 species, formerly in Accipiter)

	Megatriorchis – Doria's hawk

	Circus – harriers (16 species)

Species

The subfamily Accipitrinae contains 73 species that are arranged into 11 genera:^[3]

Image	Genus	Living Species
	Micronisus G.R. Gray, 1840	Gabar goshawk, Micronisus gabar
	Urotriorchis Sharpe, 1874	Long-tailed hawk, Urotriorchis macrourus
	Melierax G.R. Gray, 1840	Dark chanting goshawk, Melierax metabates Eastern chanting goshawk, Melierax poliopterus Pale chanting goshawk, Melierax canorus
	Kaupifalco Bonaparte, 1854	Lizard buzzard, Kaupifalco monogrammicus
	Aerospiza Roberts, 1922	Red-chested goshawk, Aerospiza toussenelii African goshawk, Aerospiza tachiro Chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk, Aerospiza castanilius
	Tachyspiza Kaup, 1844	Shikra, Tachyspiza badia Nicobar sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza butleri Levant sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza brevipes Chinese sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza soloensis Frances's sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza francesiae Spot-tailed sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza trinotata Grey goshawk, Tachyspiza novaehollandiae Variable goshawk, Tachyspiza hiogaster Brown goshawk, Tachyspiza fasciata Black-mantled goshawk, Tachyspiza melanochlamys Pied goshawk, Tachyspiza albogularis White-bellied goshawk, Tachyspiza haplochroa Fiji goshawk, Tachyspiza rufitorques Moluccan goshawk, Tachyspiza henicogramma Slaty-mantled goshawk, Tachyspiza luteoschistacea Imitator goshawk, Tachyspiza imitator Grey-headed goshawk, Tachyspiza poliocephala New Britain goshawk, Tachyspiza princeps Red-thighed sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza erythropus Little sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza minulla Japanese sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza gularis Besra, Tachyspiza virgata Dwarf sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza nanus Rufous-necked sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza erythrauchen Collared sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza cirrocephala New Britain sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza brachyura Vinous-breasted sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza rhodogaster
	Erythrotriorchis Sharpe, 1875	Chestnut-shouldered goshawk, Erythrotriorchis buergersi Red goshawk, Erythrotriorchis radiatus
	Accipiter Brisson, 1760	Madagascar sparrowhawk, Accipiter madagascariensis Ovambo sparrowhawk, Accipiter ovampensis Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus Rufous-breasted sparrowhawk, Accipiter rufiventris Grey-bellied hawk, Accipiter poliogaster Sharp-shinned hawk, Accipiter striatus White-breasted hawk, Accipiter chionogaster Plain-breasted hawk, Accipiter ventralis Rufous-thighed hawk, Accipiter erythronemius
	Astur Lacépède, 1799	Cooper's hawk, Astur cooperii Gundlach's hawk, Astur gundlachi Bicolored hawk, Astur bicolor Chilean hawk, Astur chilensis Black sparrowhawk, Astur melanoleucus Henst's goshawk, Astur henstii Eurasian goshawk, Astur gentilis American goshawk, Astur atricapillus Meyer's goshawk, Astur meyerianus
	Megatriorchis Salvadori & D'Albertis, 1875	Doria's hawk, Megatriorchis doriae
	Circus Lacépède, 1799	Western marsh harrier, Circus aeruginosus Eastern marsh harrier, Circus spilonotus Papuan harrier, Circus spilothorax Swamp harrier, Circus approximans African marsh harrier, Circus ranivorus Réunion harrier, Circus maillardi Malagasy harrier, Circus macrosceles Long-winged harrier, Circus buffoni Spotted harrier, Circus assimilis Black harrier, Circus maurus Hen harrier, Circus cyaneus Northern harrier, Circus hudsonius Cinereous harrier, Circus cinereus Pallid harrier, Circus macrourus Pied harrier, Circus melanoleucos Montagu's harrier, Circus pygargus

Hawks and humans

Hawks are sometimes used in falconry, a sport in which trained birds of prey are flown at small game for sport.

Related Research Articles

A harrier is a member of the genus Circus in the a bird of prey family Accipitridae. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds. The young of the species are sometimes referred to as ring-tail harriers. They are distinctive with long wings, a long narrow tail, the slow and low flight over grasslands and skull peculiarities. The harriers are thought to have diversified with the expansion of grasslands and the emergence of C₄ grasses about 6 to 8 million years ago during the Late Miocene and Pliocene.

Accipiter is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. With around 50 recognized species it is the most diverse genus in its family. Most species are called goshawks or sparrowhawks, although with the exception of the American goshawk almost all New World species are simply known as "hawks". They can be anatomically distinguished from their relatives by the lack of a procoracoid foramen. Two small and aberrant species usually placed here do possess a large procoracoid foramen and are also distinct as regards DNA sequence. They may warrant separation in the old genus Hieraspiza.

The Buteoninae are a subfamily of birds of prey which consists of medium to large, broad-winged species.

Circaetinae is a subfamily of the family Accipitridae which contains a group of medium to large broad-winged birds of prey. The group is sometimes treated as tribe Circaetini. These birds mainly specialise in feeding on snakes and other reptiles, which is the reason most are referred to as "snake-eagles" or "serpent-eagles". The exceptions are the bateleur, a more generalised hunter, and the Philippine eagle, which preys on mammals and birds.

The besra, also called the besra sparrowhawk, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. The name "besra" is from the Hindi word for the species.

The crested goshawk is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is widely distributed in tropical Asia. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

Milvus is a genus of medium-sized birds of prey. The genus was erected by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799 with the red kite as the type species. The name is the Latin word for the red kite.

Frances's sparrowhawk is a small bird of prey. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. The nominate subspecies, T. f. francesiae, is endemic to Madagascar, and the other subspecies are found in the Comoro Islands. The Anjouan sparrowhawk, also known as the Anjouan Island sparrowhawk, Ndzuwani goshawk or Joanna Island goshawk, was thought to be extinct until searches in the 1980s and in 2005 confirmed that it is still extant.

The Chinese sparrowhawk (Tachyspiza soloensis) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

The brown goshawk is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found in Australia and surrounding islands. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

The grey goshawk is a strongly built, medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is found in eastern and northern Australia. The white morph of this species is known as the white goshawk. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

The red-thighed sparrowhawk, alternatively known as the red-legged sparrowhawk or western little sparrowhawk, is a species of sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae from western and northern central Africa. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

The black-mantled goshawk is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found in the highlands of New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

The little sparrowhawk is a species of Afrotropical bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. It is the smallest member of the genus Tachyspiza and forms a superspecies with the red-thighed sparrowhawk.

The Harpiinae is a bird of prey subfamily which consists of large broad-winged species native to tropical forests. There are 4 genera in the subfamily, all monotypic.

Lophospiza is a genus of Asian birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is the only genus in the subfamily Lophospizinae. The two species placed in this genus were formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

Tachyspiza is a genus containing goshawks and sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae. The species were formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

Astur is a genus containing hawks, goshawks and sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae. The species were formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

Aerospiza is a genus containing goshawks and a sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae that are found in Africa. The three species in the genus were formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

Harpaginae is a subfamily of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. The species are found in Central and South America.

References

↑ Mindell, D.; Fuchs, J.; Johnson, J. (2018). "Phylogeny, taxonomy, and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes". In Sarasola, J.H.; Grange, J.M.; Negro, J.J. (eds.). Birds of Prey: Biology and conservation in the XXI century. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. pp. 3–32. ISBN 978-3-319-73744-7.
1 2 Catanach, T.A.; Halley, M.R.; Pirro, S. (2024). "Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society: blae028. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blae028.
1 2 3 4 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 22 August 2024.

External links

Hawk videos on the Internet Bird Collection
Hawk photos taken on the central coast of California.

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[1] Mindell, D.; Fuchs, J.; Johnson, J. (2018). "Phylogeny, taxonomy, and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes". In Sarasola, J.H.; Grange, J.M.; Negro, J.J. (eds.). Birds of Prey: Biology and conservation in the XXI century. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. pp. 3–32. ISBN 978-3-319-73744-7.

[catanach-2] 1 2 Catanach, T.A.; Halley, M.R.; Pirro, S. (2024). "Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society: blae028. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blae028.

[ioc-3] 1 2 3 4 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 22 August 2024.

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