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Aquila is the genus of true eagles. The genus name is Latin for "eagle", possibly derived from aquilus, "dark in colour".[1] It is often united with the sea eagles, buteos, and other more heavyset Accipitridae, but more recently they appear to be less distinct from the slenderer 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 overall) vertebrate prey.
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Aquila
Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present
Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)Scientific classificationDomain:EukaryotaKingdom:AnimaliaPhylum:ChordataClass:AvesOrder:AccipitriformesFamily:AccipitridaeSubfamily:AquilinaeGenus:Aquila
Brisson, 1760Type speciesAquila chrysaetos
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
See text
3D scan of skeleton
Taxonomy and systematics
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The genus Aquila was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) as the type species.[2][3] Aquila belongs to a close-knit group of "typical" eagles including genera Hieraaetus, Lophaetus, Ictinaetus and Clanga. This group occurs as a clade within the larger group of "booted" eagles (tribe Aquilini or subfamily Aquilinae).[4]
The plumage of the more basal members of the booted-eagle group, such as Spizaetus and Nisaetus, generally has barred underparts in adults, and is distinctly different in juveniles which have plain, pale underparts. In contrast, within the Aquila–Hieraaetus–Lophaetus clade, adults are generally dark, with juveniles more closely resembling the adults. Hieraaetus species have both dark and light (or "pied") morphs, with the latter having light, unbarred under-parts.[5]
Research in molecular genetics found Aquila and Hieraaetus to be polyphyletic. Between 2005 and 2014, the British Ornithologists' Union included both Bonelli's and the booted eagle in Aquila. Also, Clements' Checklist merged all Hieraetus species into Aquila from 2001 to 2009. The current approach is to keep Hieraaetus as a separate genus, with Bonelli's eagle and the African hawk-eagle moved into Aquila and Wahlberg's eagle moved into Hieraaetus.[6]
The spotted eagles greater spotted eagle, lesser spotted eagle, and Indian spotted eagle (previously Aquila clanga, A. pomarina, A. (p.) hastata) are thought to be genetically closer to Ictinaetus and Lophoaetus than to other Aquila species, and may be placed into a separate genus, Clanga.[4]
Members of Aquila (excluding those moved to Clanga and Hieraaetus, but including A. fasciata/spilogaster) share two deletions in the (nuclear) LDH gene, as well as similarities in mitochondrial cyt-B gene sequence, though one of these deletions is reverted in A. chrysaetos.[5]
Species
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The genus Aquila contains 11 species:[7]
Genus Aquila – Brisson, 1760 – eleven speciesCommon nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated populationSteppe eagle

Aquila nipalensis
(Hodgson, 1833)Romania east through the south Russian and Central Asian steppes to Mongolia
Size:
Habitat:
Diet: EN
50,000 - 75,000[8]
Tawny eagle

Aquila rapax
(Temminck, 1828)Africa both north and south of the Sahara Desert and across tropical southwestern Asia to India.
Size:
Habitat:
Diet: VU
100,000 - 499,999[9]
Spanish imperial eagle

Aquila adalberti
C. L. Brehm, 1861central and south-west Spain and adjacent areas of Portugal, in the Iberian peninsula
Size:
Habitat:
Diet: VU
1,060 - 1,080[10]
Eastern imperial eagle

Aquila heliaca
Savigny, 1809northeastern Africa and southern and eastern Asia
Size:
Habitat:
Diet: VU
2,500 - 9,999[11]
Wedge-tailed eagle

Aquila audax
(Latham, 1801)southern New Guinea, part of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia