Hawks, Eagles & Kites

One of the few truly cosmopolitan groups—absent only from Antarctica—these birds with their strongly hooked bills and long, strong talons are deeply symbolic in many cultures. Their flight styles are diverse, from the languid soaring of buteos to the deft maneuvering of woodland accipiters or the hovering hunt of a kite, and the morphology of their wings and tails varies accordingly. Although most accipitrids subsist on generalized diets of other smaller vertebrates, some are remarkably specialized, feeding primarily on bird nestlings, monkeys, snails, wasps, palm fruit, or bone marrow. Many are long-distance diurnal migrants, and their large concentrations as they funnel through isthmuses and peninsulas during migration provide an exquisite spectacle for observers below.