Hawks

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Hawks
Red kite (Milvus milvus)

Red kite ( Milvus milvus )

Systematics
Sub-stem : Vertebrates (vertebrata)
Row : Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda)
Class : Birds (aves)
Subclass : New-jawed birds (Neognathae)
Order : Birds of prey (Accipitriformes)
Family : Hawks
Scientific name
Accipitridae
Vieillot , 1816

The hawk-like (Accipitridae; from Latin accipiter , 'Schnellflieger, Habicht' ) are a family of birds of prey and include most of their representatives, depending on the author about 76-82 genera and 260 living species . The hawk-like family includes, for example, most of the birds known as eagles and vultures , as well as the buzzards , harriers , hawks and sparrowhawks .

The hawk-like species are found almost worldwide, with the exception of Antarctica and numerous oceanic islands. Every large ecosystem on earth is inhabited by them, only in very dry deserts and in the northernmost arctic tundra they are absent. The greatest biodiversity is found in tropical regions.

features

The hawk-like have broad wings and high beaks. The wingspan is between 50 cm and 3 m depending on the species. The body length ranges from 25 cm to 1.5 m. Their weight is between 80 g and 12.5 kg. The base of the upper beak is covered by a waxy skin that is often brightly colored. The eyes are large and in most species are located under a bony clasp on the skull.

Forest dwellers generally have short wings and long tails for maneuverability. In contrast, residents of open landscapes have long wings. In large species that fly very high in search of prey and sail long distances, the outer feathers of the wings are often finger-like apart to avoid turbulence. The tails can be rounded, wedge-shaped or forked.

Hawks are usually brown, black, or gray in color as they adapt to their environment. Often a striped pattern appears in the plumage. The undersides are often light. With some species there are lighter and darker colored morphs or different colorations in geographically distant populations. In most species, the females are larger than the males, most pronounced in the fast, bird-catching hawks and sparrows. Other species show a sexual dimorphism in color. Here the male is usually more conspicuously colored and the female retains a plumage similar to that of the young birds. An example here are ordinations .

In the first year of life, the plumage of birds is often very different from that of adults and is mostly brown with a lighter upper and a darker underside. Young birds of different species often look alike. The change from the plumage of young birds to the plumage of adults takes place in most species after the first year of life. For most eagles, the change takes several years. Hawks molt once a year.

Hawk species differ from the hawks in their yellow, red or nut-colored eyes, those of the hawks are brownish, their nesting (hawks take over the abandoned nests of other birds), some features in the skeleton and by the powerful expulsion of their excretions.

nutrition

Most of the hawk species are exclusively carnivorous , predominantly as opportunistic hunters, preying on what is seen and is easy to catch. Often this is also supplemented by carrion. The food spectrum of the different species includes small and medium-sized mammals, birds (including nestlings and eggs), reptiles (including snakes), amphibians, fish and many invertebrates. Buzzards mainly prey on small mammals, hawks and sparrowhawks, especially birds. Some species have specialized their diet to a large extent and this is sometimes also shown in the species names, such as short- toed eagle , honey buzzard , bat hair or snail harrier . Vultures almost exclusively eat carrion, some species also eat excrement. However, some hawks also eat fruit - the palm vulture feeds primarily on the fruits of various palm trees.

Reproduction

Most hawks are monogamous throughout the year , some for life. In all hawk-like species, the male and female build the nest, the male carrying the nesting material and the female taking on the actual nest building. The female lays an egg every two to five days and usually begins hatching with the first or the second. In most species, both males and females breed. The breeding period is 28 to 60 days, larger species usually breed longer. Because brood begins before all eggs are laid, the young hatch at different times and the older chicks are larger than those that have just hatched.

Systematics

Traditional systematics

Subfamily hawks and sparrowhawks (Accipitrinae)

  • Heterospice
  • Urotriorchis

Subfamily Old World Vulture (Aegypiinae)

Subfamily Aquilinae

  • Harpagornis †

Subfamily Buzzard (Buteoninae)

  • Busarellus
    • Buzzard ( Busarellus nigricollis )
  • Hermit eagle ( Harpyhaliaetus ) - 2 species
  • Rostrhamus
    • Snail Harrier ( Rostrhamus sociabilis )

Subfamily short-toed eagles (Circaetinae)

  • Philippines eagle ( Pithecophaga )
  • Terathopius

Subfamily Weihen (Circinae)

Subfamily sliding hairs (Elaninae)

  • Gampsonyx
  • Macheirhamphus
    • Bat male ( Macheirhamphus alcinus )

Subfamily Gypaetinae

  • Eutriorchis
    • Snake goshawk ( Eutriorchis astur )

Subfamily Haliaeetinae

Subfamily Harpiinae

Subfamily singing hawk (Melieraxinae)

Subfamily kites (Milvinae)

Subfamily Honey Buzzards (Perninae)

  • Swallow Harrier ( Elanoides )

Phylogenetic systematics

The investigation of the relationships of the Accipitridae with molecular genetic methods is still the subject of ongoing research. The following cladogram shows the family relationships of the subfamilies according to Lerner and Mindell (2005).

  Accipitridae  


 Sliding pairs  (Elaninae)


   

 Cave Harriers  (Polyboroidinae)


   

 Gypaetinae


   

 Honey buzzards  (Perninae)





   


 Old World Vulture  (Aegypiinae)


   

 Schlangenadler  (Circaetinae)



   

 Harpiinae


   

 Aquilinae


   


 Song hawk  (Melieraxinae)


   

 Hawks and sparrowhawks  (Accipitrinae)


   

 Consecrations  (Circinae)




   

 Kites  (Milvinae)


   

 White-tailed eagle  (Haliaeetinae)


   

 Buzzard-like  (buteoninae)









Template: Klade / Maintenance / Style

literature

  • Ferguson-Lees & Christie: The world's birds of prey . Translated by Volker Dierschke and Jochen Dierschke. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-440-11509-1 .
  • J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London 2001, ISBN 0-7136-8026-1 .
  • HRL Lerner, DP Mindell: Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37; 2005: pp. 327-346. PDF
  • M. Wink, H. Sauer-Gürth: Phylogenetic Relationships in Diurnal Raptors based on nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear marker genes . In: RD Chancellor and B.-U. Meyburg (eds): Raptors Worldwide . Berlin, Budapest 2004: pp. 483–498. PDF
  • Kirschbaum, K. 2004. " Accipitridae ", Animal Diversity Web. Accessed January 4, 2010.

Web links

Commons : Hawk-like  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Ernst Georges : Comprehensive Latin-German concise dictionary . 8th, improved and increased edition. Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1918 ( zeno.org [accessed on August 29, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Ferguson-Lees, Christie: The birds of prey of the world (German by Volker Dierschke and Jochen Dierschke). Franckh-Kosmos-Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart, 2009, ISBN 978-3-440-11509-1
  3. ↑ Heather RL Lerner, David P. Mindell: Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution Vol. 37 (2005), pp. 327-346, doi: 10.1016 / j. ympev.2005.04.010 , PDF