Leucopternis

Leucopternis
Semiplumbeous hawk
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Genus:	Leucopternis Kaup, 1847

Leucopternis is a Neotropical genus of birds of prey in the Accipitridae family. They are associated with tropical forests, and are uncommon or rare. Their plumage is largely black or gray above and white below, and they have distinctive orange ceres.

Species

Traditionally, Leucopternis contains significantly more species than given here. However, as the genus probably was polyphyletic,^[1] moves of species to other genera were proposed^[2] and have been accepted by the American Ornithologists' Union's South American Check-list Committee^[3] and North American Check-list Committee,^[4] except that the South American Committee placed the former L. lacernulatus in the existing genus Buteogallus instead of in a new genus Amadonastur by itself. The other species were placed in the genera Cryptoleucopteryx, Morphnarchus, Pseudastur, and Buteogallus. According to this treatment, the species remaining in Leucopternis are:

• Semiplumbeous hawk (Leucopternis semiplumbeus)
• Black-faced hawk (Leucopternis melanops)
• White-browed hawk (Leucopternis kuhli)

Notes

1. Raposo do Amaral et al. (2006), Mindell and Lerner (2008)
2. Raposo do Amaral et al. (2009)
3. Remsen et al. (2012)
4. Chesser et al. (2012)

References

• Chesser, R. Terry; et al. (2012). "Fifty-third Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds" (PDF). The Auk 129 (3): 573–588. doi:10.1525/auk.2012.129.3.573. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
• Lerner & Mindell (2008). Molecular phylogenetics of the buteonine birds of prey (Accipitridae). Auk 125: 304-315.
• Raposo do Amaral, Miller, Silveira, Bermingham, & Wajntal (2006). Polyphyly of the hawk genera Leucopternis and Buteogallus (Aves, Accipitridae): multiple habitat shifts during the Neotropical buteonine diversification. BMC Evol. Biol. 6: 10
• Raposo do Amaral, F. S.; et al. (2009). "Patterns and Processes of Diversification in a Widespread and Ecologically Diverse Avian Group, the Buteonine Hawks (Aves, Accipitridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53 (3): 703–715. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.020.
• Remsen, J. V., Jr.; et al. "A Classification of the Bird Species of South America". American Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2012-07-18.