Tachyspiza Explained

Tachyspiza is a genus containing goshawks and sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae. The species were formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

Taxonomy

The genus Tachyspiza was introduced in 1844 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup with Falco soloensis Horsfield (Chinese sparrowhawk) as the type species.^[1] The name combines the Ancient Greek ταχυς (takhus) meaning "fast" with σπιζιας (spizias) meaning "hawk".^[2]

Species now placed in this genus were formerly assigned to the genus Accipiter. Molecular phylogenetic studies found that Accipiter was polyphyletic and in the subsequent rearrangement to create monophyletic genera, the genus Tachyspiza was resurrected to contain 27 species that were previously placed in Accipiter.^{[3] [4]}

The genus contains 27 species:^[4]

• Shikra, Tachyspiza badia – Afrotropics and Asia
• Nicobar sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza butleri – Nicobar Islands
• Levant sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza brevipes – breeds southeast Europe to west Kazakhstan; winters in central Africa
  • Chinese sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza soloensis – breeds east Siberia, Korean Peninsula and China; winters south China and Taiwan through Philippines and Indonesian archipelago to Maluku Islands Frances's sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza francesiae – Comoros (except Mohéli) and Madagascar
• Spot-tailed sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza trinotata – Sulawesi
• Grey goshawk, Tachyspiza novaehollandiae – north, east Australia
• Variable goshawk, Tachyspiza hiogaster – Moluccas and Lesser Sundas to New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands
• Brown goshawk, Tachyspiza fasciata – Australia
• Black-mantled goshawk, Tachyspiza melanochlamys – montane New Guinea
• Pied goshawk, Tachyspiza albogularis – Solomon Islands
• White-bellied goshawk, Tachyspiza haplochroa – Grande Terre (New Caledonia)
• Fiji goshawk, Tachyspiza rufitorques – Fiji
• Moluccan goshawk, Tachyspiza henicogramma – north Moluccas
• Slaty-mantled goshawk, Tachyspiza luteoschistacea – southeast Bismarck Archipelago
• Imitator goshawk, Tachyspiza imitator – north, east Solomon Islands
• Grey-headed goshawk, Tachyspiza poliocephala – New Guinea
• New Britain goshawk, Tachyspiza princeps – New Britain
• Red-thighed sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza erythropus – west, west-central Africa
• Little sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza minulla – south, south-central, east Africa
• Japanese sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza gularis – breeds east Palearctic; winters Southeast Asia
• Besra, Tachyspiza virgata – south, southeast Asia
• Dwarf sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza nanus – Sulawesi
• Rufous-necked sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza erythrauchen – Moluccas
• Collared sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza cirrocephala – New Guinea and Australia
• New Britain sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza brachyura – New Britain and New Ireland
• Vinous-breasted sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza rhodogaster – Sulawesi, Banggai and Sula Islands

Extinct species

• †Powerful goshawk Tachyspiza efficax - New Caledonia
• †Gracile goshawk Tachyspiza quartus - New Caledonia

Notes and References

1. Book: Kaup, Johann Jakob . Johann Jakob Kaup . 1844. Classification der Säugethiere und Vögel . German . Darmstadt . Carl Wilhelm Leske . 116–117 .
2. Web site: Jobling . James A. . Tachyspiza . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 21 August 2024 .
3. 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 . 10.1093/biolinnean/blae028.
4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . August 2024 . Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 21 August 2024 .