Accipiter
Accipiter | |
---|---|
Collared sparrowhawk, Kobble Creek (Queensland, Australia) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Accipitridae |
Subfamily: | Accipitrinae |
Genus: | Accipiter Brisson, 1760 |
Type species | |
Falco nisus[1] Linnaeus, 1758
| |
Synonyms | |
Hieraspiza Kaup, 1844 (but see text) |
Accipiter (/ækˈsɪpədər/) 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.[2]
Extant accipiters range in size from the little sparrowhawk (A. minullus), in which the smallest males measure 20 cm (7.9 in) long, span 39 cm (15 in) across the wings and weigh 68 g (2.4 oz), to the northern goshawk (A. gentilis), in which the largest females measure 64 cm (25 in) long, span 127 cm (50 in) across the wings, and weigh 2.2 kg (4.9 lb).[3] These birds are slender with short, broad, rounded wings and a long tail which helps them maneuver in flight. They have long legs and long, sharp talons used to kill their prey, and a sharp, hooked bill used in feeding. Females tend to be larger than males. They often ambush their prey, mainly small birds and mammals, capturing them after a short chase. The typical flight pattern is a series of flaps followed by a short glide. They are commonly found in wooded or shrubby areas.
The genus Accipiter was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760.[4] The type species is the Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus).[5] The name is Latin for "hawk", from accipere, "to grasp".[6]
Procoracoid foramen
[edit]The procoracoid foramen (or coracoid foramen, coracoid fenestra) is a hole through the process at the front of the coracoid bone, which accommodates the supracoracoideus nerve. In some groups of birds it may be present as a notch, or incisura; or the notch may be partially or weakly closed with bone. In other groups the feature is completely absent.
The foramen is generally present in birds of prey, but it is absent in most Accipiter hawks that have been studied. This absence is proposed as a diagnostic feature.
A study of accipitrid skeletons found procoracoid incisurae (as opposed to foramina) in some specimens of the eagles Aquila gurneyi and A. chrysaetos, but not in four other Aquila species. The notch was variably open or weakly ossified in Spizastur melanoleucos, Lophoaetus occipitalis, Spizaetus ornatus, and Stephanoaetus coronatus. Also the buteonine hawks Buteo brachyurus and B. hemilasius had incisurae, differing from 17 other Buteo species.[7]
In Circus the foramen was found to be variable, not only within species but even between sides in the same individual. It is usually open or absent but may be closed by "a thread of bone". Research in genetic phylogeny has since indicated that Circus is closely related to Accipiter.
The notch was also absent or indistinct in Harpagus bidentatus.
Urotriorchis macrourus has a well-developed procoracoid foramen, which suggests a separation from Accipiter. It may be related to the chanting goshawks in tribe Melieraxini.[8]
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus Accipiter formerly contained around 50 species. A series of molecular phylogenetic studies found that the traditional arrangement was non-monophyletic. The publication of a densely sampled study of the Accipitridae in 2024 allowed the generic boundaries to be redefine.[9][10] To create monophyletic genera, species were moved from Accipiter to five new or resurrected genera leaving only 9 species in Accipiter. 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.[11]
List of Accipiter species
[edit]There are 9 species in the Accipiter genus.[11]
Common name[a] | Scientific name [b] | IUCN Red List Status | Distribution | Picture | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Status | Trend | Population[c] | ||||
Madagascar sparrowhawk | Accipiter madagascariensis Smith, 1834 |
NT IUCN[12] | ![]() |
3,300–6,700 | Madagascar | ![]() |
Ovambo sparrowhawk | Accipiter ovampensis Gurney, 1875 |
LC IUCN[13] | ![]() |
Sub-Saharan Africa | ![]() | |
Eurasian sparrowhawk | Accipiter nisus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
LC IUCN[14] | ![]() |
2,200,000–3,300,000 | ![]() |
![]() |
Rufous-breasted sparrowhawk | Accipiter rufiventris Smith, 1830 |
LC IUCN[15] | ![]() |
![]() | ||
Grey-bellied hawk | Accipiter poliogaster (Temminck, 1824) |
NT IUCN[16] | ![]() |
1,000–10,000 | ![]() |
![]() |
Sharp-shinned hawk | Accipiter striatus Vieillot, 1808 |
LC IUCN[17] | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() | |
White-breasted hawk | Accipiter chionogaster Kaup, 1852 |
Central America | ![]() | |||
Plain-breasted hawk | Accipiter ventralis PL Sclater, 1866 |
Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia | ![]() | |||
Rufous-thighed hawk | Accipiter erythronemius Kaup, 1850 |
Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina | ![]() |
Extinct species
[edit]- Powerful goshawk, Accipiter efficax[18]
- Gracile goshawk, Accipiter quartus[18]
Notes
[edit]- ^ 9 Accipiter species are listed according to the IOC World Bird List.[11] One species, Lesser Sundas goshawk, which is listed in the IUCN redlist but not the IOC World Bird List is excluded.
- ^ A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Accipiter.
- ^ Estimate for the number of mature individuals in the wild.
References
[edit]- ^ "Accipitridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ Olson (2006)
- ^ Raptors of the World by Ferguson-Lees, Christie, Franklin, Mead & Burton. Houghton Mifflin (2001), ISBN 0-618-12762-3.
- ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie; ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, espéces & leurs variétés (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 28, 310.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 1. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 323.
- ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Olson, Storrs (1988). "Variation in the procoracoid foramen in the Accipitridae" (PDF). Riv. Ital. Orn. 57 (3–4): 161–164. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- ^ Boyd, John. "Afroaves", Taxonomy in Flux Checklist
- ^ 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, 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.
- ^ a b c 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 29 August 2024.
- ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Accipiter madagascariensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22695613A129916593. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22695613A129916593.en.
- ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Accipiter ovampensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22695619A93519626. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695619A93519626.en.
- ^ BirdLife International. (2021). "Accipiter nisus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22695624A199751254. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22695624A199751254.en.
- ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Accipiter rufiventris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22695630A93520985. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695630A93520985.en.
- ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Accipiter poliogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22695453A93510396. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695453A93510396.en.
- ^ BirdLife International (2019). "Accipiter striatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22734130A155416546. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22734130A155416546.en.
- ^ a b Balouet, J.C.; Olson, Storrs L. (1989). "Fossil birds from Late Quaternary deposits in New Caledonia". Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 469 (469): 6–7. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.469. S2CID 129928825.
Further reading
[edit]- Balete, Danilo S.; Tabaranza, Blas R. Jr. & Heaney, Lawrence R. (2006): An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Camiguin Island, Philippines. Fieldiana Zool. New Series 106: 58–72. DOI:10.3158/0015-0754(2006)106[58:AACOTB]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract
- Heaney, Lawrence R. & Tabaranza, Blas R. Jr. (2006): Mammal and Land Bird Studies on Camiguin Island, Philippines: Background and Conservation Priorities. Fieldiana Zool. New Series 106: 1–13. DOI:10.3158/0015-0754(2006)106[1:MALBSO]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract
- Olson, Storrs L. (2006): Reflections on the systematics of Accipiter and the genus for Falco superciliosus Linnaeus. Bull. B.O.C. 126: 69–70. PDF fulltext. Archived copy.
External links
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