Little Eagle

For the census-designated place, see Little Eagle, South Dakota.

Little Eagle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Falconiformes (or Accipitriformes, q.v.)
Family:	Accipitridae
Genus:	Hieraaetus
Species:	H. morphnoides
Binomial name
Hieraaetus morphnoides (Gould, 1841)
Synonyms
Aquila morphnoides

Comparative morphology of Haast's Eagle with its closest living relative the Little Eagle.

The Little Eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides) is a very small eagle native to Australasia, measuring 45–55 cm (17–21.5 inches) in length and weighing 815 g (1.8 lb) – roughly the size of a Peregrine Falcon. It tends to inhabit open woodland, grassland and arid regions, shunning dense forest. It is a near relative of both the Palearctic Booted Eagle and, remarkably, the massive but now extinct Haast's Eagle of New Zealand.

References

• BirdLife International (2006). Hieraaetus morphnoides. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 05 December 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.

• Bunce, M.; et al. (2005). "Ancient DNA Provides New Insights into the Evolutionary History of New Zealand's Extinct Giant Eagle". PLoS Biology (PLoS Biology) 3 (1): e9. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030009. PMC 539324. PMID 15660162. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=539324. 

• Lerner, H. R. L.; D. P. Mindell (2005). "Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37 (2): 327–346. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.010. PMID 15925523. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hlerner/LernerMindell2005Proofs.pdf.