Astur (bird)

Astur is a genus containing hawks, goshawks and sparrowhawks in the family Accipitridae. The species were formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.

Taxonomy

The genus Astur was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède. The type species was later designated by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors as Falco palumbarius Linnaeus, 1758, now considered as a junior synonym of Falco gentilis Linnaeus, 1758, the Eurasian goshawk. The name is from Latin astur, asturis meaning "hawk".
Species now placed in this genus were formerly assigned to the genus Accipiter. Molecular phylogenetic studies found that Accipiter was polyphyletic and in the subsequent rearrangement to create monophyletic genera, the genus Astur was resurrected in 2024 to contain nine species that were previously placed in Accipiter.
The genus contains nine species: