Legge's hawk-eagle
| Legge's hawk-eagle | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Nisaetus kelaarti, Thattekad Bird Sanctuary | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Nisaetus |
| Species: | N. kelaarti |
| Binomial name | |
| Nisaetus kelaarti Legge, 1878 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Spizaetus kelaarti | |
Legge's hawk-eagle (Nisaetus kelaarti) is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. It breeds in the Indian subcontinent, from southern India to Sri Lanka.[2] Its specific name kelaarti honors the physician-zoologist E.F. Kelaart.
Legge's hawk-eagle is a medium-sized raptor. The typical adult has brown upperparts and pale underparts, with barring on the undersides of the flight feathers and tail. The breast and belly are heavily streaked. The wings are broad with a curved trailing edge, and are held in a shallow V in flight. Sexes are similar, but young birds are often whiter-headed.
Legge's hawk-eagle was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the mountain hawk-eagle, but it is smaller and has unstreaked buff underwing coverts. A 2008 study based on the geographic isolation and differences in call suggested that this be treated as a full species, Nisaetus kelaarti.[3] It is a bird of mountain woodland that builds a stick nest in a tree and lays usually a single egg in a clutch. Legge's hawk-eagles eat small mammals, birds and reptiles.
Nisaetus kelaarti
Notes
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Nisaetus nipalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ↑ Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol, Inskipp, Tim & Byers, Clive (1999): Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. ISBN 0-691-04910-6
- ↑ Gjershaug, J. O.; Diserud, O. H.; Rasmussen, P. C. & Warakagoda, D. (2008) "An overlooked threatened species of eagle: Legge’s Hawk Eagle Nisaetus kelaarti (Aves: Accipitriformes)" (PDF) Zootaxa 1792: 54–66
References
- Ferguson-Lees, James; David A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Illustrated by Kim Franklin, David Mead, and Philip Burton. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618127627. OCLC 46660604. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nisaetus kelaarti. |