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Concept
Hawk
Summary
Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily are mainly woodland birds with short broad wings, long tails and high visual acuity. They hunt by dashing suddenly from a concealed perch.
In America, members of the Buteo group are also called hawks; this group is called buzzards in other parts of the world. Generally, buteos have broad wings and sturdy builds. They are relatively larger-winged, shorter-tailed and fly further distances in open areas than accipiters. Buteos descend or pounce on their prey rather than hunting in a fast horizontal pursuit.
The terms accipitrine hawk and buteonine hawk are used to distinguish between the types in regions where hawk applies to both. The term "true hawk" is sometimes used for the accipitrine hawks in regions where buzzard is preferred for the buteonine hawks.
All these groups are members of the family Accipitridae, which includes the hawks and buzzards as well as kites, harriers and eagles. To confuse things further, some authors use "hawk" generally for any small to medium Accipitrid that is not an eagle.
The common names of some birds include the term "hawk", reflecting traditional usage rather than taxonomy. For example, some people may call an osprey a "fish hawk" or a peregrine falcon a "duck hawk".
Falconry was once called "hawking" and any bird used for falconry could be referred to as a hawk.cite book|last1=Little|first1=William|last2=Fowler|first2=H. W.|last3=Coulson|first3=Jessie|last4=Onions|first4=C. T.|last5=Friedrichsen|first5=G. W. S.|title=The shorter Oxford English dictionary on historical principles|orig-year=1944|year=1973|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=0-19-861-294-X|edition=3|chapter=Hawk|quote="Any diurnal bird of prey used in Falconry ... In Nat. Hist., restricted to a bird of the subfamily Accipitrinæ ...
Official source
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