NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Blyth's Hawk-Eagle
Nisaetus alboniger Blyth, 1845
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Blyth's hawk-eagle (Nisaetus alboniger) (earlier treated as Spizaetus) is a medium-sized bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae.
It can be found in the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo. It is a bird of open woodland, although island forms prefer a higher tree density. It builds a stick nest in a tree and lays a single egg.
It is a fairly small eagle at about 50–60 cm (20–24 in) in length. The adult has a thick white band on uppertail and undertail, all black above, black spotted breast, barred below. It has a prominent crest like the bazas. Juvenile is dark brown above, and has a light brown head and underparts.
The common name commemorates Edward Blyth (1810–1873), English zoologist and Curator of the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
Wikipedia contributors, Blyth's hawk-eagle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:04:03.709565+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nisaetus alboniger Blyth, 1845
- Name authority
- Blyth, 1845
- Common name
- Blyth's Hawk-Eagle
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Nisaetus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
- genusNisaetus Hodgson, 1836
- speciesNisaetus alboniger Blyth, 1845
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Nisaetus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Changeable Hawk-EagleNisaetus cirrhatus (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Flores Hawk-EagleNisaetus floris (E. J. O. Hartert, 1898) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sulawesi Hawk-EagleNisaetus lanceolatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Philippine Hawk-EagleNisaetus philippensis (Gould, 1863) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pinsker's Hawk-EagleNisaetus pinskeri (Preleuthner & Gamauf, 1998) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Javan Hawk-EagleNisaetus bartelsi (Stresemann, 1924) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Legge's Hawk-EagleNisaetus kelaarti (Legge, 1878) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Wallace's Hawk-EagleNisaetus nanus (Wallace, 1868) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mountain Hawk-EagleNisaetus nipalensis Hodgson, 1836 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Spizaetus alboniger (Blyth, 1845) (Blyth, 1845) | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Blyth, & Edward. (1845). Notices and Descriptions of various New or Little Known species of Birds. The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 14 No. 159. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:47J2J. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.