Birds of Prey belong to the order Accipitriformes and are moste diurne birds, they feed on a range of small to medium sized mammals and catch their prey alive. Some larges species live on carrion (vultures). Falcons form their own order but are also mentioned in this article.
Despite owls also feeding on live prey they do not belong to the order Accipitriformes but to the order Strigiformes. Because of Vultures being very special we dedicate a page to them; to learn more click here.
The term birds of prey covers 47 diurne species in three families. The following classification in parts relates to the Western Palearctis but in other parts has a more global approacch.
Eagles are widely devided into Aquila Eagles, Snake Eagles, Fish Eagles and Fishing Eagles and finally the Osprey. All groups have their own specific characters.
Fish Eagles belong to the largest eagles and can easily be recognised by their extraodinary large beak, the flight silhouette and the short tail. They mostly feed on fish, waterfowl and even carrion. They are mostly not depending on specific kinds of prey but usually take what is available in their habitat. Globally Fish Eagle are a group of eight species und the genus Haliaeetus and are distributed nearly all over the world.
Order: Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes)
Familiy: Kites, Old World Vultures, harriers, hawks, buzzards, eagles (Accipitridae)
The legs of the aquila eagles are featherd down to their toes, their flight silhouette shows long and broad wings and a their tail is rather short, with regard to their overall size. Aquila Eagles are not as agile in flight as their larger relatives, but they do excell in gliding. They do hunt their prey out of cover and kill their prey mostly on the ground. Only the Greater Spotted Eagle and the Booted Ealge are able to catch prey in flight.
Order: Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes)
Familie: Kites, Vultures, Hawks, Eagles (Acciptitridae)
A bit of a star is the Osprey, who excelles a a real cosmopolitan, because of its near global distribution. Ospreys feed mostly on fish and occasionally only catch snakes. They catch their fish by abruptly switching from search flight into a breathtaking nose-dive.
As their name already has it, Snake Eagles feed almost exclusively on snakes. That apart, the diet is completed with lizzards and frogs and only very rarely even small birds.
Order: Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes)
Family: Ospreys (Pandionidae)
Genus: Fischadler (Pandion)
Order: Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes)
Family: Kites, Vultures, Hawkes, Eagles, Buzzards (Accipitridae)
Genus: Snake Eagle (Circaetus)
Goshawks and Sparrowhawks belonging to the genus Accipiter form an impressive familiy consisting of nothing less than 54 species - allies included which are, with the exception of Greenland, distributed around the globe.
Goshawks and Sparrowhawks are specialists with regard to habitat and food. Their body is specifically built for their way of hunting and catching their prey. Most obvious to us are the rather shortish round wings and, compared to overall body and wing sizes, relatively long tails. Sparrowhawks and Goshawks hunt, using the cover of the landscape and they catch their prey by surprise. Over short distances they can mobilise huge energy and in flight over short distances and still remain very agile. Whithin the Accipiter genus sexes might not always look dissimilar but usually, compared to the female, the male is smaller by a third. Following the Accipiter of the world are listed, separated by geographical areas.
Order: Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes)
Family: Vultures, Eagles, Kites, Hawks, Harriers (Accipitridae)
Genus: Goshawks and Sparrowhawks (Accipiter)
One could conclude that Buzzards are a smaller edition of the much larger eagles. At least a look at their flight silhouettes might awaken such associations: long wings and a rather shortish but broad tail are their main characteristics in flight. Their behaviour, especially in flight looks rather clumsy. Buzzards hunt their prey on the ground. They start either from an observation point or out of a search flight. In case of favourable winds they do hover over the ground, like the Common Kestrel, though this is something rarely to be seen. Their feet are much weaker than is the case with eagles, leaving them confined to catching prey no heavier than 500 g a piece and their diet mostly consinsts of rodents.
The great exception is the Honey Buzzard because this species is not closely related to Buzzards in general. Its field characters and behaviour is much different from the buzzards. The diet mainly consits of nests, larvae, pupae and adults of wasps, hornets and bumble bees. Honey Buzzards reach their food by digging out the nests of wasps and hornets with their feet and beak. Because of the feet being feathered down to the toes, the birds are mostly immune against the stings of the insects.
Order: Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes)
Family: Kites, Vultures, Hawks, Eagles (Acciptitridae)
Genus: Buzzards (Buteo)
Genus: Honey Buzzards (Pernis)
We know harriers from their lurching flight, their high circling and soaring flights they perform over marshland and open country. In flight the wings are kept in a v-position. Usually they breed in thick marshy vegetation. They benefit from a sharp hearing and long legs to and locate and catch prey in thick vegetation.
Order: Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes)
Family: Kites, Vultures, Hawks, Eagles (Acciptitridae)
Genus: Buzzards (Buteo)
For a start, Kites are brilliant gliders. They slowly glide with angled wings over their hunting areas. Most obvious to the spectator are how kites expertly use their tail to change directions or when hovering over a certain spot to keep the position. Also their gabled tail is a striking feature of their flight silhouette. Although kites are already large birds of prey, their rather slim build legs prevent them from catching large prey. They feed on carrion, fish or simply try to steal the catch of other birds of prey.
Nowadays, falcons are a separate order from the birds of prey. Although they also do feed on prey, it is their specific built, behaviour and the way how they catch their feed that makes them very special. The characteristics they have all in common are:
Globally, there are 38 specions classified as Falcons, whereas in the Western Palearctic (=Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East) there are only 12 species of which only five species are distributed within Europe, as breeding birds, winter guests or migrants: