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.
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.
Underwing patternIllustration 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.
^ abParry, 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
^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 pdfArchived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
^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 pdfArchived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
Parry, S.J.; Clark, W.S. & Prakash, V. (2002): On the taxonomic status of the Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. Ibis144(4): 665–675. doi:10.1046/j.1474-919X.2002.00109.x (HTML abstract)
Väli, Ülo (2006): Mitochondrial DNA sequences support species status for the Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. Bull. B.O.C.126(3): 238–242. PDF fulltext
