Birds of Prey (Raptors): Types, Traits & Names (Publisher-Ready)

Birds of prey—also called raptors—are carnivorous birds equipped with powerful talons and a hooked beak. They include diurnal raptors (eagles, hawks, buzzards, falcons, kites, vultures, the osprey) and nocturnal raptors (owls). Signature species include the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Eurasian Eagle-owl (Bubo bubo), and Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotos).
This article expands the original text with clearer structure, field-friendly ID notes, and polished species lists—ready for an animal-education website.

What counts as a “bird of prey”?

Broadly, raptors are birds that capture and eat other animals using strong grasping feet and a hooked bill. In modern taxonomy:

• Diurnal raptors: chiefly Accipitriformes (eagles, hawks, buzzards, kites, Old World vultures), Falconiformes (falcons), plus the Osprey in its own family (Pandionidae).

• Nocturnal raptors: Strigiformes (owls)—Strigidae (typical owls) and Tytonidae (barn owls).

Core characteristics

• Talons & toe strength: curved, razor-sharp claws with powerful flexor muscles for seizing and carrying prey.

• Hooked beak: short but strong, with a sharp cutting edge for tearing hide and muscle.

• Elite senses:

• Diurnal raptors: exceptional visual acuity and depth perception.

• Owls: facial discs, asymmetric ear openings, and soft flight feathers for near-silent flight and pinpoint hearing at night.

• Sexual size dimorphism: in many species, females are larger than males.

• Diets & niches: most take live prey (small mammals, birds, reptiles/amphibians, fish, large insects). Scavenging raptors (vultures, condors) specialize in carrion, acting as vital ecosystem cleaners.

• Flight styles: soaring and thermal riding, woodland dash-and-ambush, hovering (e.g., kestrels), and high-speed stoops (dives) in falcons.

Two major groups

Nocturnal raptors (Owls)

Families Strigidae and Tytonidae.
Key adaptations: rounded facial disc to focus sound, quiet flight for stealth, and ultra-sensitive hearing. Examples: Eurasian Eagle-owl, Snowy Owl, Barn Owl, Long-eared Owl, Short-eared Owl.

Diurnal raptors (Eagles, hawks, buzzards, falcons, kites, vultures, osprey)

Extremely diverse in size and habitat—from high-speed aerial hunters (peregrines) to high-altitude soarers (condors), and fish specialists (osprey).

Scavenging raptors (Old and New World vultures, condors) are heavy-bodied, broad-winged, and often bare-headed—adaptations to a carrion lifestyle that reduces disease spread and recycles nutrients.

Spotlight species (expanded notes)

Golden Eagle — Aquila chrysaetos

Range: North America, Eurasia, N Africa (mountains, open country).
ID: very large; long, broad wings; golden nape “mantle.”
Ecology: takes hares, rabbits, ground birds, and other medium prey; a flagship conservation species in many regions.

Eurasian Eagle-owl — Bubo bubo

Range: Europe, N Africa, much of Asia.
ID: huge owl with prominent ear tufts; deep orange eyes.
Notes: sometimes used in falconry (captive breeding well established).

Lappet-faced Vulture — Torgos tracheliotos

Range: Africa.
ID: massive head with pink bare skin and “lappets”; extremely powerful bill.
Role: often the first to open tough hides, enabling other scavengers to feed.

Eurasian Sparrowhawk — Accipiter nisus

Range: W Europe to Japan.
ID: small, short-winged woodland hawk; bluish-grey back (♂) with rufous barring; agile, surprise attacks on small birds.

Peregrine Falcon — Falco peregrinus

Range: near-global.
ID: steel-blue back, dark hood; famous stoop surpassing 300 km/h.
Diet: mainly birds; also small mammals, reptiles, large insects.

Little Owl — Athene noctua

Range: much of Europe and N Africa.
ID: compact (c. 25 cm), yellow eyes, rounded wings; brown with white spots.

Barn Owl — Tyto alba

Range: almost worldwide (except Antarctica).
ID: heart-shaped facial disc; exceptionally quiet flight; superb rodent hunter, often in farmland and grasslands.

Common Kestrel — Falco tinnunculus

Range: Europe, Asia, Africa.
ID: rufous-brown with dark spots; known for hovering over fields to spot voles and large insects.

Northern Goshawk — Accipiter gentilis

Range: Eurasia & North America (forests, mountains).
ID: powerful, short-winged, long-tailed; bold white supercilium; ambushes medium-sized birds and mammals in wooded habitats.

Andean Condor — Vultur gryphus

Range: Andes of South America.
ID: immense black vulture with white collar; male with comb (caruncle); wingspan up to ~3 m.
Role: iconic high-Andean scavenger.

Common Buzzard — Buteo buteo

Range: Europe and nearby regions.
ID: medium-large, broad-winged; highly variable plumage from dark chocolate to pale; classic open-country soarer.

Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier) — Gypaetus barbatus

Range: parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Unique behavior: drops bones and shells from height to shatter them, then feeds on the marrow—one of the most specialized raptors.

Osprey — Pandion haliaetus

Range: nearly worldwide; migratory in parts of S America (non-breeding visitor).
ID: dark eye-stripe, white underparts; reversible outer toe and spiny foot pads for gripping slippery fish; fish specialist.

Extended name list (common name + scientific name)

(Regional English names vary; scientific names are the most reliable search key.)

• Eastern Imperial Eagle — Aquila heliaca

• Spanish/Iberian Imperial Eagle — Aquila adalberti

• Snowy Owl — Bubo scandiacus

• Secretarybird — Sagittarius serpentarius

• Eleonora’s Falcon — Falco eleonorae

• African Fish Eagle — Haliaeetus vocifer

• New Zealand Falcon — Falco novaeseelandiae

• Bonelli’s Eagle — Aquila fasciata

• Crested Owl — Lophostrix cristata

• Prairie Falcon — Falco mexicanus

• Forest Owlet — Athene blewitti / Heteroglaux blewitti

• Eurasian Hobby — Falco subbuteo

• King Vulture — Sarcoramphus papa

• Spotted Owl — Strix occidentalis

• Tawny Eagle — Aquila rapax

• Long-eared Owl — Asio otus

• Costa Rican Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium costaricanum

• Gyrfalcon — Falco rusticolus

• Pharaoh Eagle-owl — Bubo ascalaphus

• Verreaux’s Eagle — Aquila verreauxii

• Merlin — Falco columbarius

• Striped Owl — Asio (=Pseudoscops) clamator

• Burrowing Owl — Athene cunicularia

• Greater Kestrel — Falco rupicoloides

• Oriental Hobby — Falco severus

• Guatemalan Screech-owl — Megascops guatemalae

• Saker Falcon — Falco cherrug

• Orange-breasted Falcon — Falco deiroleucus

• Jungle Owlet — Glaucidium radiatum

• Great Horned Owl — Bubo virginianus

• Barbary Falcon — Falco pelegrinoides

• African Hawk-eagle — Aquila spilogaster

• Philippine Eagle-owl — Bubo philippensis

• Northern Hawk-owl — Surnia ulula

• Laggar Falcon — Falco jugger

• Nankeen (Australian) Kestrel — Falco cenchroides

• Steppe Eagle — Aquila nipalensis

• Marsh Owl — Asio capensis

• Aplomado Falcon — Falco femoralis

• Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture — Cathartes burrovianus

• Lesser Kestrel — Falco naumanni

• Pearl-spotted Owlet — Glaucidium perlatum

• Bat Falcon — Falco rufigularis

• Wedge-tailed Eagle — Aquila audax

• Indian Eagle-owl — Bubo bengalensis

• Turkey Vulture — Cathartes aura

• Griffon Vulture — Gyps fulvus

• Greater Spotted Eagle — Clanga clanga

• Harpy Eagle — Harpia harpyja

• Guatemalan Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium cobanense

• Gurney’s Eagle — Aquila gurneyi

• Mottled Owl — Strix (=Ciccaba) virgata

• Andean Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium jardinii

• Spectacled Owl — Pulsatrix perspicillata

• Red-necked Falcon — Falco chicquera

• Austral Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium nana

• Lanner Falcon — Falco biarmicus

• Brown Falcon — Falco berigora

• Australian Hobby — Falco longipennis

• Indian Spotted Eagle — Clanga hastata

• Verreaux’s (Milky) Eagle-owl — Bubo lacteus

• Taita Falcon — Falco fasciinucha

• Sooty Falcon — Falco concolor

• Greater Yellow-headed Vulture — Cathartes melambrotus

• California Condor — Gymnogyps californianus

• Great Horned Owl (nacurutu) — Bubo virginianus nacurutu

• Grey Kestrel — Falco ardosiaceus

• Mauritius Kestrel — Falco punctatus

• Stygian Owl — Asio stygius

• Lesser Spotted Eagle — Clanga pomarina

• Dickinson’s Kestrel — Falco dickinsoni

• Short-eared Owl — Asio flammeus

• Madagascar Kestrel — Falco newtoni

• Barred Eagle-owl — Bubo sumatranus

• Black Vulture — Coragyps atratus

• Pacific Screech-owl — Megascops cooperi

• Banded Kestrel — Falco zoniventris

• Magellanic Horned Owl — Bubo magellanicus

• Elf Owl — Micrathene whitneyi

• Red-footed Falcon — Falco vespertinus

• Fox Kestrel — Falco alopex

• Fraser’s Eagle-owl — Bubo poensis

• Greyish Eagle-owl — Bubo cinerascens

• Cape Eagle-owl — Bubo capensis

• Tropical Screech-owl — Megascops choliba

• Eurasian Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium passerinum

• Buff-fronted Owl — Aegolius harrisii

• Seychelles Kestrel — Falco araeus

• Red-chested Owlet — Glaucidium tephronotum

• African Hobby — Falco cuvierii

• Shelley’s Eagle-owl — Bubo shelleyi

• Northern Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium gnoma

• Amazonian Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium hardyi

• Least Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium minutissimum

• Collared Owlet — Glaucidium brodiei

• Central American Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium griseiceps

• Ferruginous Pygmy-owl — Glaucidium brasilianum

• African Barred Owlet — Glaucidium capense

• Ferruginous Hawk — Buteo regalis

Tip for editors: For each species page, consider adding a short box with ID keys (length/ wingspan, female vs. male), range & habitat, diet, breeding notes, and IUCN status to boost educational value and SEO.

Summary

• Raptors combine powerful anatomy with specialized senses to dominate aerial food webs.

• Nocturnal vs. diurnal raptors show contrasting sensory and flight adaptations.

• Scavenging vultures and condors are indispensable for ecosystem health.

• The species above—from Peregrine Falcon to Andean Condor—illustrate the remarkable diversity of birds of prey worldwide.

animal tags： birds of prey