July 18, 2012; Specimen Ridge, Yellowstone National Park.
From Wikipedia: The
Accipitrinae is the
subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks, including all members of
Accipiter and the closely related
genera Melierax,
Urotriorchis,
Erythrotriorchis and
Megatriorchis. The large and widespread genus
Accipiter includes
goshawks,
sparrowhawks, the
Sharp-shinned Hawk and others. They are primarily
woodland birds that hunt by sudden dashes from a concealed perch, with long tails, broad wings and high visual acuity facilitating this lifestyle. In light of recent
genetic research, the
kites of the traditional subfamily Milvinae may also belong to this group.
Hawks, including the accipitrines, are believed to have vision several times as sharp as that of the
human species, in part because of the great number of
photoreceptor cells in their
retinas (up to 1,000,000 per square mm, against 200,000 for humans), a very high number of
nerves connecting the receptors to the
brain, and an indented fovea, which magnifies the central portion of the
visual field.