Genus
Aquila (True eagles)
Aquila chrysaetos. Photo: (c) Noah M. Morales, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Aquila is the genus of true eagles. The genus name is Latin for “eagle”, possibly derived from aquilus, “dark in colour”. It is often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavyset Accipitridae, but more recently they appear to be less distinct from the more slender accipitrine hawks than previously believed. Eagles are not a natural group, but denote essentially any bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more…