
Belongs within: Accipitriformes.
Contains: Elaninae, Perninae, Aegypiinae, Circaetinae, Aquilinae, Buteoninae, Accipitrinae.
The Accipitridae include kites, hawks, eagles and related birds of prey. This is a diverse family of raptors whose members usually have wings that are rounded at the tips, and a beak without a notch in the upper bill.
Recent analyses have agreed in placing the kites of the Elaninae as sister to the remaining accipitrids. Other distinctive members of the family include the African harrier-hawks of the genus Polyboroides, grey, gracile raptors with highly mobile intertarsal joints that allow them to extract prey from tight retreats. This genus is related to the Gypaetinae, an assemblage of vulture-like birds found in Africa and the western Palaearctic.
<==Accipitridae [Accipitroidea]
|--Palaeoplancus [Palaeoplancinae]M09
| `--P. sternbergi Wetmore 1933M09
`--+--ElaninaeLM05
`--+--+--Polyboroides Smith 1829B94 [incl. Gymnogenys Lesson 1830B94; Gymnogenyinae, PolyboroidinaeCHP24]
| | |--P. radiatusJT12 [=Gymnogenys radiatusS66]
| | `--P. typusLM05
| `--+--PerninaeCHP24
| `--GypaetinaeCHP24
| |--Gypohierax Rüppell 1836LM05, B94 [incl. Racama Gray 1840B94; Gypohieracinae, Racaminae]
| | `--G. angolensis (Gmelin 1788)CHP24
| `--+--Gypaetus Storr 1784LM05, M02
| | `--G. barbatus (Linnaeus 1758) [=Vultur barbatus]M02
| `--Neophron Savigny 1809LM05, B94 [incl. Percnopterus Rafinesque 1815B94; Neophroninae, Percnopterinae]
| |--N. niger [incl. Cathartes monachus]F43
| |--N. percnopterus (Linnaeus 1758)CHP24
| `--N. pileatusDo66
`--+--+--+--AegypiinaeLM05
| | `--Dynatoaetus Mather, Lee et al. 2023ML23
| | `--*D. gaffae Mather, Lee et al. 2023ML23
| `--CircaetinaeLM05
`--+--AquilinaeCHP24
`--+--HarpiinaeCHP24
| |--Harpyopsis Salvadori 1875LM05, B94 [Harpyopseinae]
| | `--H. novaeguineaeLM05
| `--+--Macheiramphus Bonaparte 1850CHP24, B94 (see below for synonymy)
| | `--M. alcinus Bonaparte 1850CHP24 [incl. Stringonyx anderssoni Gurney 1865B66]
| `--+--Harpia Vieillot 1816LM05, B94 [incl. Thrasaetos Bonaparte 1838B94; Thrasaetinae]
| | `--H. harpyja (Linnaeus 1758)CHP24 [=Thrasaetus harpyiaS18]
| `--Morphnus Dumont 1816LM05, B94 [Morphninae]
| |--M. cristatellusE42
| |--M. guianensis (Daudin 1800)CHP24
| `--M. taeniatusE52
`--+--Lophospiza Kaup 1844 [Lophospizinae]CHP24
| |--L. griseiceps (Kaup 1848) [=Accipiter griseiceps]CHP24
| `--L. trivirgatus (Temminck 1824) [=Accipiter trivirgatus]CHP24
`--+--+--ButeoninaeCHP24
| `--HarpaginaeCHP24
| |--Harpagus Vigors 1824B94
| | |--H. bidentatusBKB15
| | | |--H. b. bidentatusE52
| | | `--H. b. fasciatusE52
| | `--H. diodonJT12
| `--Microspizias Sangster et al. 2021CHP24
| |--M. collaris (Sclater 1860) [=Accipiter collaris]CHP24
| `--M. superciliosus (Linnaeus 1866) [=Accipiter superciliosus]CHP24
`--AccipitrinaeML23
Accipitridae incertae sedis:
Titanohierax borrasiWH02
Palaeoborus rosatusFP64
Asturina Vieillot 1816 [Asturininae]B94
|--A. magnirostrisSS66
`--A. nitidaS18
Cruschedula Ameghino 1899 [Cruschedulidae]S72
`--*C. revola Ameghino 1899S72
Aquilavus Lambrecht 1933M02
`--*A. depredator (Milne-Edwards 1871) [=Aquila depredator, Eutolmaetus depredator, Nisaetus depredator]M02
Palaeocircus Milne-Edwards 1871M02
`--*P. cuvieri Milne-Edwards 1871M02
Palaeohierax Milne-Edwards 1871M02
`--*P. gervaisii (Milne-Edwards 1863) [=Aquila gervaisii]M02
Garganoaetus Ballmann 1973M02
|--*G. freudenthali Ballmann 1973M02
`--G. murivorus Ballmann 1973M02
Buthierax Kretzoi 1977M02
`--*B. pouliani Kretzoi 1977M02
Uroaetus audax (Latham 1801) [=Vultur audax; incl. Aquila audax carteri Mathews 1912]WS48
Milvoides Harrison & Walker 1979M05
`--*M. kempi Harrison & Walker 1979M02
‘Dynamopterus’ boulei Gaillard 1939M09
Palaeastur atavus Wetmore 1943M09
Promilio efferus (Wetmore 1923)M09
Climacarthrus incompletus Ameghino 1899M09
Pengana robertbolesi Boles 1993M09
Hypomorphnus urubitingaE52
|--H. u. urubitingaE52
`--H. u. ridgwayiE52
Archaehierax sylvestris Mather et al. 2021ML23
Necrastur alacer de Vis 1892ML23
Macheiramphus Bonaparte 1850CHP24, B94 [=Machaeramphus Westerman 1851B94; Machaeramphinae, Macheiramphinae]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
Austin, O. L., Jr. 1961. Birds of the World: A survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families. Paul Hamlyn: London.
[B66] Bartlett, A. D. 1866. Observations on Stringonyx anderssoni. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 324.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[CHP24] Catanach, T. A., M. R. Halley & S. Pirro. In press 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.
[D66] Dohrn, H. 1866. Synopsis of the birds of Ilha do Principe, with some remarks on their habits and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 324–332.
[E52] Eisenmann, E. 1952. Annotated list of birds of Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal Zone. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 117 (5): 1–62.
[E42] Ewer, W. 1842. List of a collection of birds from India. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 10: 91–93.
[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.
[F43] Fraser, L. 1843. On Cricetomys gambianus and various species of birds from western Africa. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 11: 51–53.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[LM05] Lerner, H. R. L., & D. P. Mindell. 2005. Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37: 327–346.
[ML23] Mather, E. K., M. S. Y. Lee, A. B. Camens & T. H. Worthy. 2023. A giant raptor (Aves: Accipitridae) from the Pleistocene of southern Australia. Journal of Ornithology 164: 499–526.
[M05] Mayr, G. 2005. The Paleogene fossil record of birds in Europe. Biological Reviews 80: 515–542.
[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.
[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.
[S66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Uyacali, Eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175–201.
[S72] Simpson, G. G. 1972. Conspectus of Patagonian fossil penguins. American Museum Novitates 2488: 1–37.
[S18] Stone, W. 1918. Birds of the Panama Canal Zone, with special reference to a collection made by Mr. Lindsey L. Jewel. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 70: 239–280.
[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.
[WH02] Worthy, T. H., & R. N. Holdaway. 2002. The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press: Bloomington (Indiana).