Booted Eagle
Hieraaetus pennatus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderAccipitriformes (Hawks, Eagles, Kites, and Allies)
- FamilyAccipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites)
- GenusHieraaetus (Small Eagles)
- SpeciesHieraaetus pennatus (Booted Eagle)
About the Booted Eagle
The booted eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus) is a medium-sized mostly migratory bird of prey with a wide distribution in the Palearctic and southern Asia, wintering in the tropics of Africa and Asia, with a small, disjunct breeding population in south-western Africa. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae.
The booted eagle was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the eagle, falcons and relatives in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco pennatus. Gmelin based his description on "Le Faucon Patu" or "Falco pedibus pennatis" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. Brisson had examined a specimen in the collection of Madame de Bandeville who was also known as Marie Anne Catherine Bigot de Graveron (1709-1787). The booted eagle is now placed in the genus Hieraaetus that was introduced in 1844 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek hierax meaning "hawk" with aetos meaning "eagle". The specific epithet pennatus is Latin and... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Booted Eagle in Camargue
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Camargue
Western Marsh-Harrier
Circus aeruginosus
Common Buzzard
Buteo buteo
Black Kite
Milvus migrans
Short-toed Eagle
Circaetus gallicus
Montagu's Harrier
Circus pygargus
Imperial Eagle
Aquila heliaca
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Accipiter nisus
Hen Harrier
Circus cyaneus
Red Kite
Milvus milvus
European Honey-buzzard
Pernis apivorus
Bonelli's Eagle
Aquila fasciata
Pale Harrier
Circus macrourus
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.