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Falconiformes

Falconidae

Falcons

David P. Mindell and John Harshman
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taxon links [up-->]Falco [up-->]Spiziapteryx circumcincta [up-->]Milvago [up-->]Microhierax [up-->]Phalcoboenus [up-->]Caracara [up-->]Daptrius ater [up-->]Herpetotheres cachinnans [up-->]Micrastur [up-->]Polihierax [down<--]'Land Birds' Interpreting the tree
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Containing group: 'Land Birds'

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Falconiformes traditionally includes all the diurnal raptors: Accipitridae (hawks, eagles, kites), Pandionidae (osprey), Cathartidae (New World vultures), and Sagittariidae (secretary bird), but all these have been removed to a separate order, Accipitriformes, leaving Falconidae as the only family in the order.

Other Names for Falconidae

References

Brown, L. and D. Amadon. 1968. Eagles, Hawks, and Falcons of the World. Middlesex: Country Life Books.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliot, and J. Sargatal (eds). 1994. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 2. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Ediciones.

Ferguson-Lees, J. and D. A. Christie. 2001. Raptors of the World. London, UK: Christopher Helm.

Griffiths, C. S. 1994. Monophyly of the Falconiformes based on syringeal morphology. Auk 111:787-805.

Griffiths, C. S.. 1999. Phylogeny of the Falconidae inferred from molecular and morphological data. Auk 116:116-130.

Griffiths, C. S., G. F. Barrowclough, J. G. Groth, and L. Mertz. 2004. Phylogeny of the Falconidae (Aves): a comparison of the efficacy of morphological, mitochondrial, and nuclear data. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 32:101-109.

Olson, S. L. 1976. The affinities of the falconid genus Spiziapteryx. Auk 91:633-635.

Seibold, I., A. J. Helbig, and M. Wink. 1993. Molecular systematics of falcons (family Falconidae), Naturwissenschaften 80:87-90.

Wink, M. and H. Sauer-Gurth. 2004. Phylogenetic relationships in diurnal raptors based on nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear marker genes. In: Chancellor, R. D.; Meyburg, B.-U. (eds), Raptors Worldwide. Budapest/Berlin: MME/WWGBP, pp. 483–498.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Location Laguna Vista, Texas
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Crested Caracara
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2005 Michael Martin
Scientific Name Phalcoboenus australis
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Caracara
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © Morgan
Scientific Name Falco sparverius
Comments American Kestrel
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Sex Male
Source American Kestrel (Male)
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Ashok Khosla
About This Page

David P. Mindell
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA


Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to David P. Mindell at and John Harshman at

Page: Tree of Life Falconiformes. Falconidae. Falcons. Authored by David P. Mindell and John Harshman. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Mindell, David P. and John Harshman. 2008. Falconiformes. Falconidae. Falcons. Version 27 June 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Falconidae/26379/2008.06.27 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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