BIRDOFPREY

A Bird of Prey, or Raptor, is a bird that hunts for food primarily on the wing, using its keen senses, especially vision; the talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh.

Diurnal birds of prey traditionally belong to the order Falconiformes:

Accipitridae: Hawks, eagles, buzzards, harriers, kites and Old World vultures

Pandionidae: Osprey (sometimes clbumified as subfamily Pandioninae of the previous family)

Sagittariidae: Secretary-bird

Falconidae: Falcons and caracaras

The New World vultures are usually also regarded as birds of prey, although they may not be closely related to the other groups.

Nocturnal birds of prey - the owls - are not clbumified with either of the aforementioned taxa but are instead considered to be members of two extant families - the Strigidae (typical owls) and the Tytonidae (barn and bay owls) - 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.

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