Hawks & Eagles

About 250 species, spanning kites, harriers, sea eagles, buteos and accipiters. Hooked bill, powerful feet, and in almost all of them females larger than males, a reversal of the usual pattern, and most extreme in the species that hunt birds. Eyesight is exceptional, with a deep fovea giving high acuity at distance. Many were reduced sharply by DDT in the twentieth century and have recovered since the bans.