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 South Luangwa National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at South Luangwa National Park
Wahlberg's Eagle
Hieraaetus wahlbergi
Ayres's Hawk-Eagle
Hieraaetus ayresii
African Fish-Eagle
Haliaeetus vocifer
Bateleur
Terathopius ecaudatus
White-backed Vulture
Gyps africanus
Banded Snake-Eagle
Circaetus cinerascens
Hooded Vulture
Necrosyrtes monachus
African Harrier-Hawk
Polyboroides typus
Brown Snake Eagle
Circaetus cinereus
Martial Eagle
Polemaetus bellicosus
Lizard Buzzard
Kaupifalco monogrammicus
Black Kite
Milvus migrans
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.