Order ACCIPITRIFORMES: Secretary-Bird, Kites, Eagles

Text extracted from Gill B.J.; Bell, B.D.; Chambers, G.K.; Medway, D.G.; Palma, R.L.; Scofield, R.P.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Worthy, T.H. 2010. Checklist of the birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica. 4th edition. Wellington, Te Papa Press and Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Pages 169 & 172.

Order ACCIPITRIFORMES: Secretary-bird, Kites, Eagles, Hawks and Allies The diurnal birds-of-prey (Accipitridae, Sagittariidae, Falconidae and Cathartidae) were long grouped in a single order usually named Falconiformes (from Sharpe 1874, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 1: ix, 1 – suborder Falcones; type Falco Linnaeus), e.g. Peters (1934), Wetmore (1960), Stresemann & Amadon (1979), del Hoyo et al. (1994). However, the strict monophyly of this group is strongly doubted, as revealed by the DNA-hybridisation studies (Sibley et al. 1988, Sibley & Ahlquist 1990) and karyological, pterylogical and morphological studies reviewed in Holdaway (1994a). This has resulted in the removal of Cathartidae, either to its own order or to within storks to which they are most closely related. Increasing evidence suggests that Falconidae and Accipitridae are not closely related (e.g. Fain & Houde 2004, Ericson et al. 2006). We follow Christidis & Boles (2008) in treating these two groups as separate orders. Within Accipitriformes as so defined, genera, as listed by, e.g. del Hoyo et al. (1994) and Dickinson (2003), are demonstrably non-monophyletic based on nuclear and mitochondrial genome data (Bunce et al. 2005, Helbig et al. 2005, Lerner & Mindell 2005, Griffiths et al. 2007). As a result of these and other phylogenetic studies concerning Aquila, Sangster et al. (2005) have transferred Hieraaetus pennatus Gmelin, 1788 to Aquila as Aquila pennata, thereby making Hieraaetus Kaup, 1844 a synonym of Aquila Brisson, 1760. As they restricted comment to Western Palaearctic species, it is not clear what the total advocated composition of Aquila is. However, in such a broadened definition of Aquila, Harpagornis, which was shown by Bunce et al. (2005) to be the sister taxon of Hieraaetus morphnoides and H. pennatus, is a derivative of the common ancestor of all “booted eagles”. Given this, we follow Sangster et al. (2005), Barthel & Helbig (2005), Mebs & Schmidt (2006) and Commission de l’Avifaune Française (2007) in recognising only one genus for the “booted eagles” of the subfamily Aquilinae (sensu Lerner & Mindell 2005).

None of the family-group names in Vieillot’s Analyse d’une nouvelle ornithologie élémentaire (1816) were based on Linnaean generic names (Bock 1994), so none are valid under ICZN (1999). Accipitrini Vieillot, 1816: 22, while designated as a family, does not provide the basis of a valid family-group name. ICZN (1999) does not rule on names above family-group level, so Vieillot names are available for such names. Accipitriformes Vieillot may be used for Accipitridae and Sagittariidae. Brodkorb (1964) provided detailed synonymies of all nomenclatorial groupings that have been proposed.

Family ACCIPITRIDAE Vigors: Kites, Eagles, Hawks and Allies Subfamily ACCIPITRINAE Vigors: Kites, Eagles, Hawks and Allies Accipitrina Vigors, 1824: Zoological Journal 1: 313 – Type genus Accipiter Brisson, 1760.

Within this subfamily we include: Milvinae Vigors, 1824; Aquilinae Vigors, 1824; and Circinae Bonaparte, 1838. The taxon Haliaeetus australis (Harrison & Walker, 1973) is deleted from the New Zealand list as it is considered to be based on bones of the Alaskan bald eagle H. leucocephalus mistakenly mixed with bones from the Chatham Islands after their collection by Forbes (Millener 1999, Worthy & Holdaway 2002).

Genus Haliaeetus Savigny Haliaeetus Savigny, 1809: Descrip. Egypte Hist. Nat. 1: 68, 85 – Type species (by monotypy) Haliaeetus nisus Savigny = Haliaeetus albicilla (Linnaeus). Haliaëtus Vieillot, 1818: Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat., nouv. éd. 24: 101. Unjustified emendation. Haliaetus Vieillot, 1818: Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat., nouv. éd. 28: 273. Unjustified emendation. Blagrus Blyth, 1846: Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 15: 369 – Type species (by monotypy) Blagrus dimidiatus Raffles = Haliaeetus leucogaster (Gmelin).

Haliaeetus leucogaster (Gmelin) White-bellied Sea Eagle Falco leucogaster Gmelin, 1788; Syst. Nat., 13th edition 1(1): 257 – New South Wales, Australia. Haliaeetus sphenurus Gould, 1838: Synop. Birds Australia 3: pl. 39 – Tasmania, Australia. Ichthyaëtus leucogaster; Buller 1873, History of the Birds of N.Z., 1st edition: 16. Haliaeetus leucogaster pallidus Mathews, 1912: Novit. Zool. 18(3): 248 – Point Torment, Western Australia. Haliaetus leucogaster; Oliver 1955, New Zealand Birds, 2nd edition: 431. Haliaeetus leucogaster (Gmelin); Stresemann & Amadon 1979, in Peters, Check-list Birds World 1 (2nd edition): 299.

This entry is based on a specimen in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (NMNZ 1341) that was given to Buller by Gould after it was procured from New Zealand. This and other sightings of eagles in New Zealand are reviewed by Oliver (1955).