Booted Eagle

:"Aquila minuta" redirects here. If based on Brehm (1831), it refers to this bird. The fossil bird described under the same name by Milne-Edwards (1871) is preliminarily known as "Hieraaetus" edwardsi" but might belong into "Aquila".Taxobox
name = Booted Eagle
status = LC
status_system = iucn3.1

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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Accipitriformes
familia = Accipitridae
genus = "Aquila"
species = "A. pennata"
binomial = "Aquila pennata"
binomial_authority = (Gmelin, 1788)
synonyms =
*"Aquila minuta" Brehm, 1831
*"Hieraaetus pennatus"

The Booted Eagle ("Aquila pennata") (formerly "Hieraaetus pennatus") is a medium-sized bird of prey. It is about 47 centimeters (18 inches) in length and has a wingspan of 120 cm (almost 4 feet). Like all eagles, it belongs to the family "Accipitridae".

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This is a species of wooded, often hilly countryside with some open areas. It hunts small mammals, reptiles and birds.

The Booted is a small eagle, comparable to the Common Buzzard in size though more eagle-like in shape. Males grow to about 700 grams (1.5 lbs) in weight, with females close to 1 kilogram (over 2 lb). There are two relatively distinct plumage forms. Pale birds are mainly light grey with a darker head and flight feathers. The other form has mid-brown plumage with dark grey flight feathers.

The call is a shrill "kli-kli-kli".

Recent genetic researchFact|date=September 2007 resulted in the reclassification of this species to the genus "Aquila" from "Hieraaetus". As it is the type species of "Hieraaetus", should any of the hawk-eagles be retained in a distinct genus a new name for that group would be necessary.

Along with the Little Eagle this bird is one of the closest living relatives of the extinct Haast's Eagle of New Zealand.

References

*IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=49458|title=Hieraaetus pennatus|downloaded=12 May 2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
*"Splitting headaches? Recent taxonomic changes affecting the British and Western Palaearctic lists" - Martin Collinson, British Birds vol 99 (June 2006), 306-323
*Bunce, M., et al. (2005) Ancient DNA Provides New Insights into the Evolutionary History of New Zealand's Extinct Giant Eagle. PLoS Biol 3(1): e9 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030009 [http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0030009 HTML open-source article]
*Lerner, H. R. L. and D. P. Mindell (2005) Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. "Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution" (37): 327-346. [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hlerner/LernerMindell2005Proofs.pdf PDF document]

External links

* [http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/booted.eagle.html Oiseaux] Photos
* [http://www.ibercajalav.net/img/127_BootedEagleHpennatus.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta]