Accipitrinae Explained

The Accipitrinae are the subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks, including all members of Accipiter and the closely related genera Erythrotriorchis, and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread genus Accipiter includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, the sharp-shinned hawk and others. They are primarily woodland birds that hunt by sudden dashes from a concealed perch, with long tails, broad wings and high visual acuity facilitating this lifestyle. In light of recent genetic research, the kites of the traditional subfamily Milvinae may also belong to this group.

Hawks, including the accipitrines, are believed to have vision several times sharper than humans, in part because of the great number of photoreceptor cells in their retinas (up to 1,000,000 per square mm, against 200,000 for humans), a very high number of nerves connecting the receptors to the brain, and an indented fovea, which magnifies the central portion of the visual field.

Species in taxonomic order

• Subfamily Accipitrinae
  • Genus Accipiter
    • African goshawk, A. tachiro (Daudin, 1800)
    • American goshawk, A. atricapillus (Wilson, 1812)
    • Besra, A. virgatus (Temminck, 1822)
    • Bicolored hawk, A. bicolor (Vieillot, 1817)
    • Black sparrowhawk, A. melanoleucus Smith, A, 1830
    • Brown goshawk, A. fasciatus (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
    • Chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk, A. castanilius Bonaparte, 1853
    • Chinese sparrowhawk, A. soloensis (Horsfield, 1821)
    • Christmas goshawk, Accipiter fasciatus natalis
    • Collared sparrowhawk, A. cirrocephalus (Vieillot, 1817)
    • Cooper's hawk, A. cooperii (Bonaparte, 1828)
    • Crested goshawk, A. trivirgatus (Temminck, 1824)
    • Dwarf sparrowhawk, A. nanus (Blasius, W, 1897)
    • Eurasian sparrowhawk, A. nisus (Linnaeus, 1758)
    • Eurasian goshawk, A. gentilis (Linnaeus, 1758)
    • Fiji goshawk, A. rufitorques (Peale, 1849)
    • Frances's sparrowhawk, A. francesiae Smith, A, 1834
    • Grey goshawk, A. novaehollandiae (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
    • Grey-bellied hawk, A. poliogaster (Temminck, 1824)
    • Grey-headed goshawk, A. poliocephalus Gray, GR, 1858
    • Gundlach's hawk, A. gundlachi Lawrence, 1860
    • Henst's goshawk, A. henstii (Schlegel, 1873)
    • Imitator sparrowhawk, A. imitator Hartert, EJO, 1926
    • Japanese sparrowhawk, A. gularis (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845)
    • Levant sparrowhawk, A. brevipes (Severtsov, 1850)
    • Little sparrowhawk, A. minullus (Daudin, 1800)
    • Madagascar sparrowhawk, A. madagascariensis Verreaux, J, 1833
    • Moluccan goshawk, A. henicogrammus (Gray, GR, 1861)
    • Meyer's goshawk, A. meyerianus (Sharpe, 1878)
    • New Britain goshawk, A. princeps Mayr, 1934
    • New Britain sparrowhawk, A. brachyurus (Ramsay, EP, 1880)
    • Nicobar sparrowhawk, A. butleri (Gurney, JH Jr, 1898)
    • Ovambo sparrowhawk, A. ovampensis Gurney, JH Sr, 1875
    • Pied goshawk, A. albogularis Gray, GR, 1870
    • Plain-breasted hawk, A. ventralis Sclater, PL, 1866
    • Red-chested goshawk, A. toussenelii (Verreaux, J, Verreaux, É & des Murs, 1855)
    • Red-thighed sparrowhawk, A. erythropus (Hartlaub, 1855)
    • Rufous-chested sparrowhawk, A. rufiventris Smith, A, 1830
    • Rufous-necked sparrowhawk, A. erythrauchen Gray, GR, 1861
    • Rufous-thighed hawk, A. erythronemius (Kaup, 1850)
    • Sharp-shinned hawk, A. striatus Vieillot, 1808
    • Shikra, A. badius (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
    • Slaty-mantled sparrowhawk, A. luteoschistaceus Rothschild & Hartert, EJO, 1926
    • Spot-tailed sparrowhawk, A. trinotatus Bonaparte, 1850
    • Sulawesi goshawk, A. griseiceps (Kaup, 1848)
    • Vinous-breasted sparrowhawk, A. rhodogaster (Schlegel, 1862)
    • White-bellied goshawk, A. haplochrous Sclater, PL, 1859
  • Genus Erythrotriorchis
    • Chestnut-shouldered goshawk, E. buergersi (Reichenow, 1914)
    • Red goshawk, E. radiatus (Latham, 1801)
  • Genus Megatriorchis
    • Doria's goshawk, M. doriae Salvadori & D'Albertis, 1875

Several genera or species formerly classified in this subfamily, such as Micronisus, Urotriorchis, Microspizias, and Circus, have since been moved out of Accipitrinae following phylogenetic studies. In contrast, other genera such as Lophospiza have since been reclassified into Accipitrinae.^{[1] [2]}

Hawks and humans

Hawks are sometimes used in falconry, a sport in which trained birds of prey are flown at small game for sport.

External links

• Hawk videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Hawk photos taken on the central coast of California.

Notes and References

1. Starikov . I. J. . Wink . M. . 2020 . Starikov, I. J., & Wink, M. (2020). Old and Cosmopolite: Molecular Phylogeny of Tropical–Subtropical Kites (Aves: Elaninae) with Taxonomic Implications. . Diversity . en . 12 . 9 . 10.3390/d12090327 . free.
2. Sangster . George . Kirwan . Guy M. . Fuchs . Jérôme . Dickinson . Edward C. . Elliott . Andy . Gregory . Steven M. S. . 2021-02-08 . A new genus for the tiny hawk Accipiter superciliosus and semicollared hawk A. collaris (Aves: Accipitridae), with comments on the generic name for the crested goshawk A. trivirgatus and Sulawesi goshawk A. griseiceps . Vertebrate Zoology . en . 71 . 419–424 . 10.3897/vz.71.e67501 . 2625-8498. free .