A Review Of The Distribution Of Black Eagle Ictinaetus Malaiensis In Mainland China

The Chinese distribution of Black Eagle Ictinaetus malaiensis was traditionally restricted to Fujian, Taiwan and Yunnan. In the past two decades the number of birdwatchers throughout China has greatly increased, resulting in wider coverage of forest sites, and consequently more sightings of this species have been documented. We found several accounts where observations have been overlooked, leading to an underestimate of the distribution of the species in mainland China. Our review indicates that it occurs in eight continental provinces, one autonomous region and on the islands of Hainan and Taiwan, and at present its range extends over more than 20,000 km(2); the lowest altitude at which it has been recorded is 70 m in Anhui and the highest is 3,250 m in Yunnan