All species › Birds of prey
Birds of prey | Accipitriformes
Roofvogels | Rapaces diurnas
Diurnal birds of prey with a hooked bill whose upper mandible closes over the lower to tear flesh away, and with a cere at the base of the bill in which the nostrils sit. The foot has four short, very strong toes with curved claws; prey is killed with the foot and not with the bill. The eye holds two areas of sharp vision, one of them looking far ahead, so that a bird at height can pick out prey on the ground. In almost all species the female is larger than the male. Indigestible remains are brought up as a pellet. The nest is a structure of sticks used year after year, growing larger each season.
Families in this order
- Ospreys | Pandionidae1 species
- Kites, Old World vultures, eagles and hawks | Accipitridae18 speciesIn this region the family runs from the Wedge-tailed Eagle, with a wingspan of over two metres, to the small sparrowhawk that hunts between branches. Broad wings with slotted primaries allow soaring on thermals, which occupies most of the day in the eagles and the kites. Black Kites and Whistling Kites have been described picking up burning sticks at grass fires and dropping them further on, spreading the fire and flushing fresh prey; how widespread that behaviour is has not been established. The harriers hunt low and slow over reed and grassland and carry a ruff of stiff feathers around the eye that guides sound to the ear, so that prey can be found under cover. The first chick hatches some days before the second; in the eagles, only the elder usually survives a lean year.