Arikah Map

Accipitridae

Accipitridae:Mergefrom
It has been suggested that Accipitriformes be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)
iAccipitridae
Accipitridae:Swallow-tailed Kite
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Vieillot, 1816
Subfamilies

The Accipitridae is one of the two major families within the order Falconiformes (the diurnal birds of prey). Many well-known birds like hawks, eagles, kites, harriers and Old World vultures are included in this group. Most, but not all, other raptors belong to the Falconidae, or falcon family, which is often considered a distinct order, in which case the present group would belong to the order Accipitriformes.)

The Osprey is usually placed in a separate family (Pandionidae), as is the Secretary bird (Sagittariidae), and the New World vultures are also usually now regarded as a separate family or order. Karyotype data (Amaral & Jorge, 2003) indicated that the accipitrids hitherto analyzed are indeed a distinct monophyletic group, but whether this group should be considered a family of the Falconiformes or an order on its own is a matter of taste.


Contents

Systematics

The accipitrids have been variously divided into some 5-10 subfamilies. The main shared sharacters are similar morphology, but many of these groups contain taxa which are more aberrant. These are placed in their respective position more for lack of better evidence than anything else. It is thus not very surprising that the phylogenetic layout of the accipitrids has always been a matter of dispute.

As mentioned above, the accipitrids are recognizable by a peculiar rearrangement of their chromosomes. Apart from this, morphology and mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data gives a confusing picture of these birds' interrelationships. What can be said is that the hawks, kites, eagles and Old World vultures as presently assigned in all likelihood do not form monophyletic groups:

According to the molecular data, the Buteoninae are most likely poly- or paraphyletic, with the true eagles, the sea eagles, and the buteonine hawks apparently representing distinct lineages. These appear to form a group with the Milvinae, Accipitrinae and Circinae but the exact relationships between the lineages are not at all robustly resolvable with the present data. The Perninae and possibly the Elaninae are older lineages, as are the Old World vultures. The latter are fairly likely also poly- or paraphyletic, with some aberrant species like the Bearded and Egyptian Vultures standing apart from the naked-necked "true" vultures.(Wink et al., 1996)

For an alternative taxonomy, see also Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. See also list of birds.


References

Categories


Articles to be merged since October 2006 | Accipitridae | Bird families | Birds of prey

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