Aegypiinae | |
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Lappet-faced vultures (left) and a white-backed vulture | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Accipitridae |
Subfamily: | Aegypiinae Sclater, WL, 1924 |
Type genus | |
Aegypius Savigny, 1809 |
Aegypiinae is one of two subfamilies of Accipitridae that are referred to as Old World vultures, the other being the Gypaetinae. They are not closely related to the Gypaetinae, and are instead a sister group to the serpent-eagles (Circaetinae). [1] [2]
Presently found throughout much of Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe, fossil evidence indicates that as recently as the Late Pleistocene, they ranged into Australia. [3] [4]
The subfamily Aegypiinae was introduced (as the family Aegypiidae) in 1924 by the British zoologist William Lutley Sclater with Aegypius Savigny, 1809, as the type genus. [5] [6]
The cladogram of the Aegypiinae shown below is based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the Accipitridae by Therese Catanach and collaborators that was published in 2024. [2]
Aegypiinae |
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Genus | Common and binomial names | Image | Range |
---|---|---|---|
Necrosyrtes Gloger, 1841 | Hooded vulture Necrosyrtes monachus | ![]() | Sub-Saharan Africa |
Gyps Savigny, 1809 | Griffon vulture Gyps fulvus | ![]() | Mountains in southern Europe, north Africa and Asia |
White-rumped vulture Gyps bengalensis | ![]() | Northern and central India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and southeast Asia | |
Rüppell's vulture Gyps rueppelli | ![]() | The Sahel region of central Africa | |
Indian vulture Gyps indicus | ![]() | Central and peninsular India | |
Slender-billed vulture Gyps tenuirostris | ![]() | The Sub-Himalayan regions of India and into Southeast Asia | |
Himalayan vulture Gyps himalayensis | ![]() | The Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau | |
White-backed vulture Gyps africanus | ![]() | Savannahs of west and east Africa | |
Cape vulture Gyps coprotheres | ![]() | Southern Africa | |
Sarcogyps Lesson, 1842 | Red-headed vulture Sarcogyps calvus | ![]() | The Indian Subcontinent, with small disjunct populations in Southeast Asia |
Trigonoceps Lesson, 1842 | White-headed vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis | ![]() | Sub-Saharan Africa. Extinct populations have occurred in Indonesia. [7] |
Torgos Kaup, 1828 | Lappet-faced vulture Torgos tracheliotos | ![]() | Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sinai and Negev deserts and north-west Saudi Arabia |
Aegypius Savigny, 1809 | Cinereous vulture Aegypius monachus | ![]() | Southwestern and central Europe, Turkey, the central Middle East, northern India, central and east Asia |
† Aegypius jinniushanensis | Pleistocene of China | ||
† Aegypius prepyrenaicus | Pleistocene of Spain |
Subfamily | Genus | Common and binomial names | Image | Range |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aegypiinae | † Cryptogyps | †Cryptogyps lacertosus | Pleistocene of Australia | |
† Gansugyps | †Gansugyps linxiaensis | Miocene of China |
† = extinct
A harrier is a member of the genus Circus in Accipitridae, a family of birds of prey. 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.
The Accipitridae is one of the four families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds of prey with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-sized mammals, with a number feeding on carrion and a few feeding on fruit. The Accipitridae have a cosmopolitan distribution, being found on all the world's continents and a number of oceanic island groups. Some species are migratory. The family contains 256 species which are divided into 12 subfamilies and 75 genera.
Old World vultures are vultures that are found in the Old World, i.e. the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and which belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, buzzards, kites, and hawks.
The hooded vulture is an Old World vulture in the order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus Necrosyrtes, which is sister to the larger Gyps genus, both of which are a part of the Aegypiinae subfamily of Old World vultures. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it has a widespread distribution with populations in southern, East and West Africa. It is a scruffy-looking, small vulture with dark brown plumage, a long thin bill, bare crown, face and fore-neck, and a downy nape and hind-neck. Its face is usually a light red colour. It typically scavenges on carcasses of wildlife and domestic animals. Although it remains a common species with a stable population in the lower region of Casamance, some areas of The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau, other regions such as Dakar, Senegal, show more than 85% losses in population over the last 50 years. Threats include poisoning, hunting, loss of habitat and collisions with electricity infrastructure, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "critically endangered" in their latest assessment (2022). The highest current regional density of hooded vultures is in the western region of The Gambia.
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 raptor subfamily Perninae includes a number of medium-sized broad-winged species. These are birds of warmer climates, although the Pernis species have a more extensive range.
An elanine kite is any of several small, lightly-built raptors with long, pointed wings.
Wahlberg's eagle is a bird of prey that is native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is a seasonal migrant in the woodlands and savannas. It is named after the Swedish naturalist Johan August Wahlberg. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae.
The grey-headed fish eagle is a fish-eating bird of prey from Southeast Asia. It is a large stocky raptor with adults having dark brown upper body, grey head and lighter underbelly and white legs. Juveniles are paler with darker streaking. It is often confused with the lesser fish eagle and the Pallas's fish eagle. The lesser fish eagle is similar in plumage but smaller and the Pallas's fish eagle shares the same habitat and feeding behaviour but is larger with longer wings and darker underparts. Is often called tank eagle in Sri Lanka due to its fondness for irrigation tanks.
The rufous-bellied eagle or rufous-bellied hawk-eagle is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is found in the forested regions of tropical Asia. Relatively small for eagles and contrastingly patterned like a falcon, this species was earlier placed in the genus Hieraaetus and sometimes also in the genus Aquila but thought to be distinctive enough to belong to a separate genus.
A sea eagle or fish eagle is any of the birds of prey in the subfamily Haliaeetinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Ten extant species exist, currently described with this label.
Icthyophaga is a genus of six species of eagles, closely related to the sea eagles in the genus Haliaeetus. In fact, some taxonomic authorities place this genus within Haliaeetus. Both are native to southeastern Asia, from the Indian subcontinent southeast to Sulawesi. They are smaller than the Haliaeetus eagles, though overlapping in size with the smaller species of that genus. They share similar plumage, with grey heads grading into dull grey-brown wings and bodies, and white belly and legs. They differ in tail colour, with the lesser fish eagle having a brown tail, and the grey-headed fish eagle having a white tail with a black terminal band, and also in size, with the lesser fish eagle only about half of the weight of the grey-headed fish eagle.
The black-chested snake eagle or black-breasted snake eagle is a large African bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. It resembles other snake eagles and was formerly considered conspecific with the short-toed and Beaudouin's snake eagles, to which it is closely related.
The genus Hieraaetus, sometimes known as small eagles or hawk-eagles, denotes a group of smallish eagles usually placed in the accipitrid subfamilies Buteoninae or Aquilinae.
The Andaman serpent eagle, also known as the Andaman dark-serpent eagle or the dark serpent eagle, is a medium-sized bird in the family Accipitridae, the raptor family, that is only found in India on the Andaman Islands. It is currently classified as vulnerable and is experiencing population declines. This species, unlike the Crested serpent eagle, is incredibly understudied and so many things about its behaviour and ecology are still widely unknown.
The Gypaetinae is one of two subfamilies of Old World vultures the other being the Aegypiinae. Some taxonomic authorities place the Gypaetinae within the Perninae hawks. They are presently found throughout much of Africa, Asia, and southern Europe, hence being considered "Old World" vultures, but as recently as the Late Pleistocene, they were also present in North America.
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.
Booted eagles are eagles that have fully feathered tarsi. That is, their legs are covered with feathers down to the feet. Most other accipitrids have bare lower legs, scaled rather than feathered.
Harpaginae is a subfamily of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. The species are found in Central and South America.