Cassin's hawk-eagle (Aquila africana) or Cassin's eagle, is a relatively small eagle in the family Accipitridae. Its feathered legs mark it as member of the Aquilinae or booted eagle subfamily. A forest-dependent species, it occurs in primary rainforests across western, central and (marginally) eastern Africa where it preys on birds and tree squirrels. It was named after John Cassin who first described it in 1865. Due to widespread habitat destruction, its populations are steadily declining but have not yet warranted upgrading its status from Least Concern. Description The adult Cassin's hawk-eagle appears as a small eagle, with short rounded wings and a long rounded tail. It has dark brown upperparts, with white spots and a brown tail with three black bars and a broad black subterminal band. The tarsi are white with black streaks, and the underparts are all white or white with black blotches along the sides of the lower breast. It has yellowish-brown eyes, pale yellow ceres and feet and a black bill. Immature and juvenile plumage is strikingly different from that of adults. A brown or rufous head with dusky lores and streaked black on the throat and centre of the crown is typical. The underparts are white and the breast russet with half-concealed blackish spots, while the belly and flanks are marked with dense black spotting. The tail is dark gray with a white tip and dark barring and the dark brown wings have white-tipped secondary feathers. In flight, the juvenile shows pale underwing coverts whereas an adult has dark underwing coverts and a black band along the rear edge of the wing. The immature gains its adult plumage by becoming blacker above and whiter below. A fairly small eagle, under current classification, Cassin's hawk-eagle is the smallest member of the Aquila genus. Measuring in length, it has a wingspan of and weighs in at . Strong reversed sexual size dimorphism is present, with females far larger than males. Taxonomy Cassin's hawk-eagle taxonomy has been in flux ever since it was first described and remains uncertain to this day. Previously, the broader taxonomy of true eagles was based on morphological similarities such as plumage patterns that yielded the 'booted eagle' (eagles with feathered tarsi) and 'hawk-eagle' contained groupings. As such, Cassin's hawk-eagle was formerly allocated to the genera Limnaetus, Phoeoaetus, Cassinaetus, Hieraaetus, and Spizaetus in no particular order. It was moved to Hieraeetus when Spizaetus was