Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as any bird that hunts other animals. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh. In most cases, the females are considerably larger than the males. The term "raptor" is derived from the Latin word "rapere" (meaning to seize or take by force) and may refer in...
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Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as any bird that hunts other animals. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh. In most cases, the females are considerably larger than the males. The term "raptor" is derived from the Latin word "rapere" (meaning to seize or take by force) and may refer informally to all birds of prey, or specifically to the diurnal group.
The diurnal birds of prey are formally classified into five families:
The nocturnal birds of prey - the owls - are classified separately as members of two extant families of the order Strigiformes:
The observation that otherwise unrelated bird groups may perform similar ecological roles and bear striking morphological similarities to one another is explained largely by the idea of convergent evolution.
The common names for various birds of prey are based on structure but many...
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