Bat hawk
| Bat hawk | |
|---|---|
| Bat hawk at Cape Vidal, northern Natal, South Africa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Macheiramphus Bonaparte, 1850 |
| Species: | M. alcinus |
| Binomial name | |
| Macheiramphus alcinus Bonaparte, 1850 | |
| Subspecies | |
|
M. a. anderssoni
M. a. alcinus
M. a. papuanus | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Machaerhamphus alcinus Westerman, 1851 | |
The bat hawk (Macheiramphus alcinus) is a raptor found in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia to New Guinea. It is named for its diet, which consists mainly of bats. It requires open space in which to hunt, but will live anywhere from dense rainforest to semi-arid veld.