US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

"Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in which their body consists of a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total. Animals range in length from 8.5 micrometres (0.00033 in) to 33.6 metres (110 ft). They have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology."

"A chordate is an animal of the phylum Chordata. All chordates possess, at some point during their larval or adulthood stages, five synapomorphies, or primary characteristics, that distinguish them from all other taxa."

"Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (/ˈeɪviːz/), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton."

"Telluraves (also called land birds or core landbirds) is a recently defined clade of birds defined by their arboreality."

"Accipitrimorphae is a clade of birds of prey that include the orders Cathartiformes (New World vultures) and Accipitriformes (diurnal birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, osprey and secretarybird)."

"The Accipitriformes (from Latin accipiter/accipitri- "hawk", and New Latin -formes "having the form of") are an order of birds that includes most of the diurnal birds of prey, including hawks, eagles, vultures, and kites, but not falcons."

"Accipitridae is one of the three families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet."

"The Accipitrinae are the subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks, including all members of Accipiter and the closely related genera Microspizias, Erythrotriorchis, and Megatriorchis."

"Buteo is a genus of medium to fairly large, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings."

"The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members within the genus of Buteo in North America or worldwide."