Editing Bird of prey (section)

==Common names==
The term ''raptor'' is derived from the Latin word ''[[wikt:rapio#Latin|rapio]]'', meaning "to seize or take by force".<ref name=brown>{{cite book|author=Brown, Leslie|year=1997|publisher=Chancellor Press|isbn=978-1-85152-732-8|title=Birds of Prey}}</ref> The [[common name]]s for various birds of prey are based on structure, but many of the traditional names do not reflect the evolutionary relationships between the groups.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

[[File:raptorialSilhouettes.svg|thumb|upright|Variations in shape and size]]
* [[Eagle]]s tend to be large, powerful birds with long, broad wings and massive feet. [[Aquilinae|Booted eagle]]s have legs and feet feathered to the toes and build very large stick nests.
* [[Falcon]]s and [[kestrel]]s are medium-size birds of prey with long pointed wings, and many are particularly swift flyers. They belong to the family [[Falconinae|Falconidae]], only distantly related to the [[Accipitriformes]] below. [[Caracara (subfamily)|Caracaras]] are a distinct subgroup of the Falconidae unique to the [[New World]], and most common in the [[Neotropical realm|Neotropics]] – their broad wings, naked faces and appetites of a generalist suggest some level of convergence with either ''[[Buteo]]'' or the vulturine birds, or both.
* [[Accipitrinae|True hawk]]s are medium-sized birds of prey that usually belong to the genus ''[[Accipiter]]'' (see below). They are mainly woodland birds that hunt by sudden dashes from a concealed perch. They usually have long tails for tight steering.
* [[Buzzard]]s are medium-large raptors with robust bodies and broad wings, or, alternatively, any bird of the genus ''[[Buteo]]'' (also commonly known as "hawks" in North America, while "buzzard" is colloquially used for vultures).
* [[Harrier (bird)|Harrier]]s are large, slender hawk-like birds with long tails and long thin legs. Most use a combination of keen eyesight and hearing to hunt small vertebrates, gliding on their long broad wings and circling low over [[grassland]]s and [[marsh]]es.
* [[Kite (bird)|Kite]]s have long wings and relatively weak legs. They spend much of their time soaring. They will take live vertebrate prey, but mostly feed on [[insect]]s or even carrion.
* The [[osprey]], a single species found worldwide that specializes in catching fish and builds large stick nests.
* [[Owl]]s are variable-sized, typically night-specialized hunting birds. They fly almost silently due to their special feather structure that reduces turbulence. They have particularly acute hearing and nocturnal eyesight.
* The [[secretary bird]] is a single species with a large body and long, stilted legs endemic to the open grasslands of Sub-Saharan Africa.
* [[Vulture]]s are [[scavenger]]s and carrion-eating raptors of two distinct biological families: the [[Old World vulture]]s ([[Accipitridae]]), which occurs only in the [[Eastern Hemisphere]]; and the [[New World vulture]]s ([[Cathartidae]]), which occurs only in the [[Western Hemisphere]]. Members of both groups have heads either partly or fully devoid of feathers.

Many of these [[English language]] group names originally referred to particular species encountered in [[Great Britain|Britain]]. As English-speaking people travelled further, the familiar names were applied to new birds with similar characteristics. Names that have generalised this way include: kite (''[[red kite|Milvus milvus]]''), sparrowhawk or sparhawk (''[[Eurasian sparrowhawk|Accipiter nisus]]''), goshawk (''[[northern goshawk|Accipiter gentilis]]''), kestrel (''[[common kestrel|Falco tinninculus]]''), hobby  (''[[Eurasian hobby|Falco subbuteo]]''), harrier (simplified from "hen-harrier", ''[[hen harrier|Circus cyaneus]]''), buzzard (''[[common buzzard|Buteo buteo]]'').

Some names have not generalised, and refer to single species (or groups of closely related (sub)species), such as the [[merlin (bird)|merlin]] (''Falco columbarius'').