Accipitrinae

The Accipitrinae are the subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks, including all members of Accipiter and the closely related genera Microspizias, 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.

True hawk
Sharp-shinned hawk
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Accipitrinae
Genera

4 genera. See below.

Shikra Accipiter badius feeding on a garden lizard in Hyderabad, India.

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

Several genera or species formerly classified in this subfamily, such as Micronisus, Urotriorchis and Circus, have since been moved out of Accipitrinae following phylogenetic studies. In contrast, other genera such as Microspizias, and 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.

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. 12 (9). doi:10.3390/d12090327.
  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. 71: 419–424. doi:10.3897/vz.71.e67501. ISSN 2625-8498.
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