The besra (Accipiter virgatus) is a resident of the Himalayan Mountains. It has been recorded sparingly in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The besra breeds in China, Taiwan, and the Philippines. This is also found in eastern Indonesia. The Besra is also found in SE Asia. This is a 12 to 14 inch hawk has a dark back and an orange breast. Some of the subspecies are sexually dimorphic. When flying this hawk shows mostly white with some dark lines.

There are 11 subspecies listed in Clements in 2007.
The nominate form is found from Java east to Bali.
The subspecies affinis is found from northern India east to SE Asia and central China.
The subspecies fuscipectus is found in the highlands of Taiwan (Formosa).
The subspecies besra is found in southern India and south into Sri Lanka (Ceylon).
The subspecies abdulali is found on the Andaman and Nicobar Island groups.

The subspecies nisoides is found from Myanmar (Burma) east into Thailand and south into the northern part of the Malay peninsula.
The subspecies confusius is found in the northern Philippines.
The subspecies quagga is found in the central and southern Philippines.
The subspecies rufotibialis is found in northern Borneo.
The subspecies vanbemmeli is found in Sumatra
The subspecies quinquefasciatus is found in the Lesser Sundas on Flores.

A typical subspecies male might have an orange breast with a white striped throat. A typical female might have a pale breast with orange marks on white, and a center breast with horizontal orange marks.

The Princeton Illustrated Check List shows the subspecies confusus male with a grey head, orange breast, and white leggings.
This book also shows the subspecies vanbemmeli with a dark head and orange breast.

True hawk genus (Accipiter) is a large world wide genus of about 50 or more species comprising birds with short broad soaring wings and a long tail. The females are larger than the males. These birds primarily feed on other small birds.

The hawks are the best known of the birds of prey. We have placed the Accipiter genus with its 40 some species of hunting hawks here.

Hawks and Eagles (Family Accipitridae) are a group of 205 species found in most areas of the world. Actually, the common terms of eagle, hawk, kite, buzzard, and vulture are rather loosely used, and consequently, are not much help in understanding this family. Here, this family has been separated into seven groups: typical hawks, Old World vultures, eagles and related hawks, fish eagles, kites, harriers and marsh hawks, and a misc. group. A more precise division might be:
Aegypinae - Old World Vultures -
Elaninae - White Tailed Kites - 7 species
Perninae - Swallowtailed and Hook Billed Kites
Milvinae - True kites -
Accipitrinae - Hunting hawks - 40 species
Buteoninae - Large hawks and eagles - 90 species
Circinae - Harriers and marsh hawks - 17 species
Circaetinae - Serpent eagles

There is no universal agreement on the division of this group, and some authors lump them altogether. We hope our arbitrary separation helps in the study of this group.

Birds of Prey (Order Falconiformes) group contains the eagles, hawks, falcons, Old World vultures, and related birds. The majority of the species in this group feed on small animals, fish, and other birds. A few species eat dead animals. Most of them are excellent fliers and have very strong legs and claws for grasping their prey. There are about 239 species in the hawk and eagle group and about 61 species in the falcon group. When you include the unique osprey and the unique secretary bird, you total about 302 species more or less depending upon a few controversial subspecies.

(The 7 species of New World vultures have recently been placed near the pelicans and storks and were not counted in our 302 number. However, for historical reasons we have left those vultures below here, as our purpose is defining species, and helping users navigate the large number of species.)

Aves contains about 8,650 different species of living birds known to science. Each year about one new species is discovered in some remote rain forest or remote island. In addition, scientists have been raising many subspecies to full species status which may raise the species count to 10,000. Birdlife recognizes 10,027 species as of 2011.

However, each year about one species goes extinct. The rate of extinction is increasing, and the rate of new discovery is decreasing, so that the number of bird species will soon begin to decline rapidly. Although different taxonomists would organize the birds differently, there are approximately twenty-seven orders of birds. These orders are broken down into about one hundred and fifty-five different families.

Recent research of the genetic structure of some of the shore birds and owls would indicate that the present organization of orders and families should have some modification.

The birds are a worldwide group of animals that are characterized by having the front limbs modified into wings that are used for flying. Perhaps the most unique feature of the birds is the feathers. These feathers are made up of a central support called a quill and a series of small filaments that are hooked together as barbs.

For many years it was believed that Archaeopteryx discovered in Bavaria was the oldest bird from about 150 million years ago. However, in l986, Sankar Chattterjee, a Texas paleontologist, reportedly discovered a bird in the genus Protoavis that lived about 225 million years ago.

When this project was begun in 1978, we used Austin & Singer for bird taxonomy. Since then, we have adopted many changes, but have kept some older concepts that are still found widely in the literature. Recently, we have used Clements and Howard & Moore. Very recently, we have used Monroe and Sibley for the higher taxonomy of the perching birds.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

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