Hmmm... Among the land bird clade, Falconidae is near the base of the
> Eufalconimorphae and Acciptridae + Cathartidae and owls at the base > of whatever their big clade is called. With Aequornithes as their > sister group, we have a cluster where "feeding on the flesh of > vertebrates" seems to be the basal state, at least among extant > forms. See also: *Messelastur*, the stem-parrot of death. BTW, does anyone know what's so equal about Aequornithes?