Accipitridae

The Accipitridae family includes hawks, kites, Old World vultures, harriers, eagles, and buzzards.  It is the largest family in the Falconiforme order.  Just like our families, where brothers and sisters look like their parents in different ways (hair and eye color, height), the birds of prey in the Accipitridae family have characteristics that are the same.   These birds are put in the Accipitridae family because they all:

	Have hooked beaks.
	Have strong, curved talons for holding and killing prey.
	Have very good eyesight so that they can see prey from far away.
	Hunt during the daytime. (diurnal)
	Have a raised ridge above their eyes that make them look mean.
	Are carnivorous. (meat eaters)

There are a lot of differences between the Accipitors, too.   Since there are a lot of different birds in the family, they like to live in lots of different places and eat lots of different things.   Most of them build stick nests to live in.  They migrate from the nesting place to somewhere else where they can find food when it’s colder.  Then they come back to the nesting place to breed.  The nests become larger and larger because the birds add to them each year.  “A few notable nests have been a bald eagle’s nest which was 86 square feet… across the top.  Another was 10 feet … across and 16 ½ feet high.” [Encyclopedia of Animals]
      Man is the enemy of these birds.  Farmers would shoot these birds because they thought they were “chicken buzzards”, birds who would kill the farmer’s livestock.  Today’s chickens are usually kept inside, so this isn’t a danger anymore.  Farmers also put pesticides on their crops.  The pesticides go into the air and on the farmer’s fields.  When a small bird eats a worm from that field, the pesticide gets into the bird.  Pesticides don’t go away.  They stay inside that small bird.  It keeps eating the worms and the pesticides keep building up.  A hawk swoops down and eats the bird.  Now the hawk has pesticides from the air and the ones from the eaten bird.  Pesticides kill a lot of birds of prey like that.  Sometimes it even makes females lay eggs that have thin shells.  The eggs break before they hatch so the numbers of birds decreases.

Hawks

            Hawks are usually around two feet long and have short, hooked beaks that they use to kill their prey.  Their long legs have lots of feathers on them.  Their nests are usually put where predators won’t bother them but they can still see prey below.  They will eat their prey in one gulp unless it is really big and then they pull off pieces instead.  Hawks like woodland areas.  Nests are usually made of sticks and have leaves and grass on the inside to soften them.
            An interesting thing about hawks is that they have binocular AND monocular vision.  This means that they can see with both eyes at the same time (binocular) so that they can see distances.   They can also focus both eyes separately and at the same time, seeing what is next to them on either side. (monocular)  This makes it possible for them to see in almost all directions at the same time. 
           These are the hawks we studied: 

Kites

            Kites are birds of prey that live in warm, tropical areas.  Their nests are mostly in trees.  When they fly, they are known for how well they soar and circle.  They have very small legs and feet that are not strong.  Kites adapted to this by hunting prey that is small.  Some raptors have very strong feet and legs and can grab, kill, and haul away prey that is even bigger than they are.  Kites can’t do this so they pick easier to handle small prey or even dead animals. 

Eagles

            The biggest raptors, eagles are about three feet long and, when they fully stretch out their wings, they can be seven feet wide.  They build stick nests that have leaves and moss inside them to make them softer.  The nests, called eyries, are in places where people won’t bother them.  They might be very high up in trees or on mountain cliffs.  Eagle nests are really big for two reasons.  The first is that they are big birds and need a big nest to fit their whole family.  The second is that they reuse their nests and keep adding sticks and leaves to them each year.  The nests get bigger and bigger as the years pass.
            Eagles mate for life and share parent jobs.  The female hatches the eggs and then they both feed the eaglets and teach them to hunt.  Since they are such big birds, they need to eat larger prey.  In order to capture, kill and carry away BIG prey, they have really strong feet.  When they swoop down on their prey, they stick their talons in and kill them.  They use their beaks to rip and tear their prey.

Works Cited:           

Alderfer, Jonathan.  Complete Birds of North America.  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic, 2006.

“Buteonine, buzzard, eagle, harpy, harrier, hawk, kite, old world vulture.”  Encyclopedia of Animals.  2006 edition.

Barth, Kelly.  Birds of prey.  San Diego: Lucent Books, 2000.

“Family Accipitridae.”  18 Oct. 2007.  <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Accipitridae.html>.

“Kite.”  Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia.  2007.

Lloyd, Glenys.  Birds of prey.  NY:  Grosset & Dunlap, 1970.