CreatureData

Mountain hawk-eagle

Nisaetus nipalensis Hodgson, 1836

NTNear Threatenedbirds of prey

The mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 2.65 kg to 3.36 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis)
Photo: Original uploader was Stephen Cooper at en.wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the mountain hawk-eagle

Weight
2.65 kg – 3.36 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the mountain hawk-eagle live?

Not recorded

What is the mountain hawk-eagle?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis) or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself in the Himalayas. A less widely recognized common English name is the feather-toed eagle. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. Its feathered tarsus marks this species as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae. It is a confirmed breeding species in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, from India, Nepal (hence the epithet nipalensis) through Bangladesh to Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan, although its distribution could be wider still as breeding species. Like other Asian hawk-eagles, this species was earlier treated under the genera of Spizaetus but genetic studies have shown this group to be paraphyletic, resulting in the Old World members being placed in Nisaetus (Hodgson, 1836) and separated from the New World species. As is typical of hawk-eagles, the mountain hawk-eagle is a forest dwelling opportunistic predator who readily varies its prey selection between birds, mammals and reptiles along with other vertebrates. Although classified currently as a least-concern species due its persistence over a rather wide distribution, this species is often quite rare and scarce and seems to be decreasing, especially in response to large-scale habitat degradation and deforestation.

From the Wikipedia article “Mountain hawk-eagle” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mountain_hawk-eagle&oldid=1377442512), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the mountain hawk-eagle endangered?

The mountain hawk-eagle is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.

How is the mountain hawk-eagle classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusNisaetus
  7. SpeciesNisaetus nipalensis Hodgson, 1836

Synonyms Spizaetus nipalensis, Spizaetus nipalensis nipalensis

Other names and names in other languages (53)
  • Moutain hawk-eagleEnglish
  • Moutain hawk-eagleEnglish
  • أفياء جبليArabic
  • نسر الصقري الجبليArabic
  • পাহাড়ি বাজBangla
  • àguila de muntanyaCatalan
  • Àguila astor muntanyencaCatalan
  • orel horskýCzech
  • BjerghøgeørnDanish
  • BerghaubenadlerGerman
  • BergadlerGerman
  • NepalhaubenadlerGerman
  • monta agloEsperanto
  • Águila montañesaSpanish
  • Águila azor montañesaSpanish
  • Águila-azor montañesaSpanish
  • mägi-tuttkotkasEstonian
  • قوش-عقاب کوهستانیPersian
  • mahtijalokotkaFinnish
  • Aigle montagnardFrench
  • Iolar seabhaic sléibheIrish
  • planinski oraoCroatian
  • hegyi vitézsasHungarian
  • Aquilastore montanoItalian
  • クマタカJapanese
  • 뿔매Korean
  • kalninis peslinis erelisLithuanian
  • kalnu vanagērglisLatvian
  • Уулын согсоот бүргэдMongolian
  • Burung Lang GunungMalay
  • पहाडी शदलचीलNepali
  • Aziatische KuifarendDutch
  • fjellskogørnNorwegian
  • wojownik górskiPolish
  • پعاڑی ہاک-عقابWestern Panjabi
  • águia-montêsPortuguese
  • águia-gavião-montesaPortuguese
  • gavião-montêsPortuguese
  • Хохлатый орёлRussian
  • Горный хохлатый орёлRussian
  • orlovec hnedosivýSlovak
  • Planinski jastrebasti oraoSerbian
  • bergörnSwedish
  • BerghökörnSwedish
  • เหยี่ยวภูเขาThai
  • Nepal Atmaca KartalıTurkish
  • орел-чубань гірськийUkrainian
  • Гірський чубатий орелUkrainian
  • Diều núiVietnamese
  • 熊鷹Chinese
  • 熊鷹〔赫氏角鷹〕Chinese
  • 鷹鵰Chinese
  • 鹰雕Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the mountain hawk-eagle

Other species in the same genus Nisaetus.

CompareMountain hawk-eagle vs Changeable hawk-eagleMountain hawk-eagle vs Javan hawk-eagleMountain hawk-eagle vs Blyth's hawk-eagleMountain hawk-eagle vs Wallace's hawk-eagle

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the mountain hawk-eagle?

An adult mountain hawk-eagle weighs 2.65 kg – 3.36 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the mountain hawk-eagle endangered?

The mountain hawk-eagle is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

What kind of animal is the mountain hawk-eagle?

The mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-hawk-eagle

MLA

“Mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-hawk-eagle.

BibTeX
@misc{mountain_hawk_eagle_2026,
  title = {Mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-hawk-eagle},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}