Clanga hastata

Aquila hastataClanga hastata

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Accipitriformes

Familia: Accipitridae
Subfamilia: Aquilinae
Genus: Clanga
Species: Clanga hastata
Name

Clanga hastata (Lesson, 1831: 217)
Synonyms

Morphnus hastatus (Protonym)
Aquila hastata
Aquila pomarina hastata

References

Lesson, R.P., 1831 Chapitre II in I.G.S. Bélanger (ed.), 1834: Voyage aux Indes-orientales, par le nord de l'Europe, les provinces du Caucase, la Géorgie, l'Arménie et la Perse, suivi de détails topographiques, statistiques et autres sur le Pégou, les iles de Java, de Maurice et de Bourbon, sur le Cap-de-Bonne-Espérance et Sainte-Héléne, pendant les années 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828 et 1829, pub. sous les auspices de LL. EE. MM. les Ministres de la marine et de l'intérieur: Historique, par M. Charles Bélanger. v. 3. Zoologie. [1831-46] A. Bertrand, Paris. Pp. xxxix + 535. googlebooks: p. 217
Ernst Hartert, 1910. Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna systematische Übersicht der in Europa, Nord-Asien.. 2. p. 1107
IUCN: Clanga hastata (Vulnerable)

Vernacular names
català: Àguila de l'Índia
čeština: Orel indický
English: Indian Spotted Eagle
Esperanto: Hinda kriaglo
español: Águila moteada hindú
فارسی: عقاب خال‌دار هندی
français: Aigle lancéolé
עברית: עיט הודי
हिन्दी: भारतीय चित्तीदार महाश्येन
magyar: Indiai békászó sas
հայերեն: Հնդկական ենթարծիվ
latviešu: Indijas mazais ērglis
മലയാളം: ചെറിയ പുള്ളിപ്പരുന്ത്
монгол: Энэтхэг цоохор бүргэд
नेपाली: लघु महाचील
Nederlands: Indische schreeuwarend
Diné bizaad: Biʼééʼ Łigaii Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ atsá łikizhígíí
polski: Orlik hinduski
پنجابی: ھندستانی تبیاں آلا عقاب
русский: Индийский подорлик
svenska: Indisk skrikörn
Türkçe: Hint benekli kartalı

The Indian spotted eagle (Clanga hastata) is a large bird of prey native to South Asia. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The typical eagles are often united with the buteos, sea eagles and other more heavyset Accipitridae, but more recently it appears as if they are less distinct from the more slender accipitrine hawks.

Description
Indian Spotted Eagle, Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Gujarat

The Indian spotted eagle is about 60 cm in length and has a wingspan of 150 cm. It is broad-headed, with the widest mouth of all spotted eagles.[2] This species has a lighter coloration overall compared to its relatives, with a darker iris that makes the eyes appear darker than the plumage (rather than the other way around as in the northern spotted eagles). Adults can be told apart from the greater spotted eagle by its lighter color, darker eyes, and habitat preference. After about three or four months the young birds are glossy brown with the tips of the head and neck feathers being creamy and giving a spotted appearance. The upper tail coverts are light brown with white giving a barred appearance. The median coverts have large creamy spots. After about eighteen months the bird moults and becomes a darker shade and has less spots.[3] Some older juveniles, unlike the lesser and greater species, are not strongly spotted at all, making the common name somewhat misleading, and also lack the creamy buff nape patch of the juvenile lesser spotted eagle.
Distribution and habitat

The Indian spotted eagle is native in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Nepal, where it prefers subtropical and tropical dry forests to plantations and arable land. It is vagrant in Pakistan. In Nepal, it is resident and breeding in Chitwan and Bardia National Parks, in Sukla Phanta and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserves and in some unprotected areas in the Terai.[4] In India, it is distributed sparingly over the Gangetic plains, in the east up to Manipur, in Madhya Pradesh and southern Orissa, but in the south limited to Kotagiri and Mudumalai, Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu and Tumakuru, Karnataka.[5]

This species can often be approached quite closely for a large raptor. Unlike the greater spotted eagle, which is a winter visitor to Indian wetlands, this species does not show any special affinity for wetland habitats.
Systematics, taxonomy and evolution
Underwing pattern
Illustration of an adult and a juvenile by Joseph Smit (1875)

The Indian spotted eagle was earlier considered as the resident of eastern subspecies of the lesser spotted eagle but has proven quite distinct and readily separable by morphological, behavioral, ecological and DNA sequence data. The Indian lineage seems to have diverged around the middle Pliocene, perhaps some 3.6 million years ago,[6] from the common ancestor of the lesser and greater spotted eagles. The "proto-spotted eagle" probably lived in the general region of Afghanistan, being split into a northern and a southern lineage when both glaciers and deserts advanced in Central Asia as the last ice age began.[2][7][8]

The spotted eagles as a group although quite distinct from the typical members, were formerly included in the genus Aquila, the "true eagles". They are now placed in their separate genus Clanga
References

BirdLife International (2016). "Clanga hastata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22729779A95021573. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22729779A95021573.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
Parry, S.J., Clark, W.S., Prakash, V. (2002) On the taxonomic status of the Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. Ibis Volume 144 Issue 4: 665 - 675
Anderson A (1875). "Corrections of and Additions to "Raptorial Birds of North-western India". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 16–27.
BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Aquila hastata. online
Shivprakash, A. Kishen Das, K.R., Shivanand, T., Girija, T., Sharath, A. (2006) Notes on the breeding of the Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. Indian Birds Vol. 2 No. 1 (January–February 2006): 2-4 download pdf Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
The estimate in Väli (2006) is certainly incorrect; it uses a molecular clock that is appropriate for small passerines with half the generation times of eagles.
Rasmussen, P.C., Anderton, J.C. (2005) Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions, Washington, DC and Barcelona.

Väli, Ü (2006) Mitochondrial DNA sequences support species status for the Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 126 (3): 238-242. download pdf Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine