Accipiter
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Accipiter_nisus_1_(Bohuš_Číčel).jpg
| image_caption = Accipiter nisus
| taxon = Accipiter
| authority = Brisson, 1760
| type_species = Falco nisus{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=36 |title= Accipitridae |author= |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-26}}
| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758
| synonyms = Hieraspiza Kaup, 1844 (but see text)
}}
Accipiter ({{IPAc-en|æ|k|ˈ|s|ɪ|p|ə|d|ə|ɹ}}) is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Some species are called sparrowhawks, but there are many sparrowhawks in other genera 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.{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie; ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, espéces & leurs variétés | volume=1 | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | place=Paris | language=fr | pages=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010426 28], [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010826 310]}} The type species is the Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus).{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 1 | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=323 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108963 }} The name is Latin for "hawk", from accipere, "to grasp".{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n30 30]}}
Procoracoid foramen
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.{{cite journal|last1=Olson|first1=Storrs|title=Variation in the procoracoid foramen in the Accipitridae|journal=Riv. Ital. Orn.|date=1988|volume=57|issue=3–4|pages=161–164|url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/12800/VZ_204_Procoracoid_Accipitridae.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|access-date=18 June 2016}}
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.[http://jboyd.net/Taxo/List9.html Boyd, John. "Afroaves", Taxonomy in Flux Checklist]
Taxonomy
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.{{Cite book | last1=Mindell | first1=D. | last2=Fuchs | first2=J. | last3=Johnson | first3=J. | date=2018 | chapter=Phylogeny, taxonomy, and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes | editor1-last=Sarasola | editor1-first=J.H. | editor2-last=Grange | editor2-first=J.M. | editor3-last=Negro | editor3-first=J.J. | title=Birds of Prey: Biology and conservation in the XXI century | location=Cham, Switzerland | publisher=Springer | isbn=978-3-319-73744-7 | pages=3–32 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326086278 }}{{Cite journal | last1=Catanach | first1=T.A. | last2=Halley | first2=M.R. | last3=Pirro | first3=S. | date=2024 | title=Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) | journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society | pages=blae028 | doi=10.1093/biolinnean/blae028| url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2023/07/15/2023.07.13.548898.full.pdf }} 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.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/| publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=29 August 2024 }}
List of ''Accipiter'' species
There are 9 species in the Accipiter genus.
{{Species table |genus= Accipiter |authority-name=Brisson|authority-year= 1760 |species-count=nine|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}
{{Species table/row
|name= Madagascar sparrowhawk|binomial=Accipiter madagascariensis
|image=File:Madagascar Sparrowhawk - Andasibè - Madagascar S4E7858 (15102515088).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Smith|authority-year=1834 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Madagascar
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= NT
|population=3,300–6,700{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=Accipiter madagascariensis |page=e.T22695613A129916593 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22695613A129916593.en}}
|direction={{decrease}}
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Ovambo sparrowhawk |binomial=Accipiter ovampensis
|image=File:Accipiter ovampensis 1501561.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Gurney|authority-year= 1875 |authority-not-original=
|range= Sub-Saharan Africa
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|direction={{increase}}
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Eurasian sparrowhawk |binomial=Accipiter nisus
|image=File:Eurasian Sparrowhawk by Steve Ward.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Europe and Asia
|range-image=File:AccipiterNisusIUCNver2018 2.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=2,200,000–3,300,000{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International. |year=2021 |title=Accipiter nisus |page=e.T22695624A199751254 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22695624A199751254.en}}
|direction={{steady}}
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Six subspecies |bullets=on
|A. n. granti
| A. n. melaschistos
|A. n. nisosimilis
|A. n. nisus
| A. n. punicus
|A. n. wolterstorffi
}}
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Rufous-breasted sparrowhawk |binomial=Accipiter rufiventris
|image=File:Accipiter rufiventris 134373850.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Smith|authority-year=1830 |authority-not-original=
|range= Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|direction={{increase}}
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
| A. r. perspicillaris - (Rüppell, 1836)
| A. r. rufiventris - Smith, A, 1830
}}
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Grey-bellied hawk |binomial=Accipiter poliogaster
|image=File:Accipiter poliogaster 19994665.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Temminck|authority-year=1824 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, the two Guyanas, Suriname, eastern Ecuador, central and eastern Peru, Amazonian Brazil, northern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and northeast Argentina
|range-image=File:Range Map Grey-Bellied Hawk.jpg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= NT
|population=1,000–10,000{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=Accipiter poliogaster |page=e.T22695453A93510396 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695453A93510396.en}}
|direction={{increase}}
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Sharp-shinned hawk |binomial=Accipiter striatus
|image=File:Accipiter striatus, Canet Road, San Luis Obispo 1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Vieillot|authority-year=1808 |authority-not-original=
|range= North America, Central America, South America and the Greater Antilles.
|range-image=File:Accipiter striatus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|direction={{increase}}
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Ten subspecies |bullets=on
|A. s. fringilloides
|A. s. madrensis
|A. s. perobscurus
|A. s. striatus
|A. s. suttoni
|A. s. velox
}}
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=White-breasted hawk |binomial=Accipiter chionogaster
|image=File:Accipiter chionogaster, Tonalá, Chiapas, Mexico 1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Kaup|authority-year=1852 |authority-not-original=
|range= Central America
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status=
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Plain-breasted hawk |binomial=Accipiter ventralis
|image=File:Accipiter ventralis 2.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name= PL Sclater|authority-year=1866 |authority-not-original=
|range= Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status=
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Rufous-thighed hawk |binomial=Accipiter erythronemius
|image=File:Accipiter striatus -Horto Florestal de Sao Paulo, Brazil-8.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name= Kaup|authority-year=1850 |authority-not-original=
|range= Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status=
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/end}}
Notes
{{Notelist|30em}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Further reading
- 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 [http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3158/0015-0754(2006)106%5B58:AACOTB%5D2.0.CO%3B2 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 [http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3158/0015-0754(2006)106%5B1:MALBSO%5D2.0.CO%3B2 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. [http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/1760/1/Accipiter.pdf PDF fulltext]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201244/http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/1760/1/Accipiter.pdf Archived copy].
External links
- [http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/accipiters.html Pictures of Accipiters and information about North American Accipiters]
- [http://www.mikosanat.com/kus/atmaca/atmaca.html Accipiter Photos]
{{Accipitrimorphae|A.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q188737}}
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