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Accipiter

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Accipiter
Accipiter nisus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Accipitrinae
Genus: Accipiter
Brisson, 1760
Type species
Accipiter nisus[1]
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms

Hieraspiza Kaup, 1844 (but see text)

Accipiter (/ækˈsɪpədər/) is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Most species are called sparrowhawks, but there are many sparrowhawks in other genera too, such as Tachyspiza.

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.[2] The type species is the Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus).[3] The name is Latin for "hawk", from accipere, "to grasp".[4]

Procoracoid foramen

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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.[5]

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.[6]

Taxonomy

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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 redefined.[7][8] 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.[9]

List of Accipiter species

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There are 9 species in the Accipiter genus.[9]

Genus Accipiter – Brisson, 1760 – nine species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Madagascar sparrowhawk

Accipiter madagascariensis
(Smith, 1834) 		Madagascar Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 NT 


3,300–6,700[10] Decrease

Ovambo sparrowhawk

Accipiter ovampensis
Gurney, 1875 		Sub-Saharan Africa Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


[11] Increase

Eurasian sparrowhawk

Accipiter nisus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Six subspecies
  • A. n. granti
  • A. n. melaschistos
  • A. n. nisosimilis
  • A. n. nisus
  • A. n. punicus
  • A. n. wolterstorffi
Europe and Asia
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


2,200,000–3,300,000[12] Steady

Rufous-breasted sparrowhawk

Accipiter rufiventris
Smith, 1830

Two subspecies
  • A. r. perspicillaris - (Rüppell, 1836)
  • A. r. rufiventris - Smith, A, 1830
Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


[13] Increase

Grey-bellied hawk

Accipiter poliogaster
(Temminck, 1824) 		eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, the two Guyanas, Suriname, eastern Ecuador, central and eastern Peru, Amazonian Brazil, northern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and northeast Argentina
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 NT 


1,000–10,000[14] Increase

Sharp-shinned hawk

Accipiter striatus
Vieillot, 1808

Ten subspecies
 North America, Central America, South America and the Greater Antilles.
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


[15] Increase

White-breasted hawk

Accipiter chionogaster
Kaup, 1852 		Central America Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
Plain-breasted hawk

Accipiter ventralis
PL Sclater, 1866 		Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
Rufous-thighed hawk

Accipiter erythronemius
Kaup, 1850 		Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina Size:

Habitat:

Diet:


Extinct species

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Accipitridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Olson, Storrs (1988). "Variation in the procoracoid foramen in the Accipitridae" (PDF). Riv. Ital. Orn. 57 (3–4): 161–164. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  6. ^ Boyd, John. "Afroaves", Taxonomy in Flux Checklist
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ a b 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.
  10. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Accipiter madagascariensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22695613A129916593. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22695613A129916593.en.
  11. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Accipiter ovampensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22695619A93519626. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695619A93519626.en.
  12. ^ BirdLife International. (2021). "Accipiter nisus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22695624A199751254. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22695624A199751254.en.
  13. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Accipiter rufiventris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22695630A93520985. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695630A93520985.en.
  14. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Accipiter poliogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22695453A93510396. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695453A93510396.en.
  15. ^ BirdLife International (2019). "Accipiter striatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22734130A155416546. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22734130A155416546.en.
  16. ^ 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

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  • 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.
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