The Accipitriformes is an order that has been proposed to include most of the diurnal birds of prey: hawks, eagles, vultures, and many others, about 225 species in all. For a long time, the majority view has been to include them with the falcons in the Falconiformes, but some authorities have recognized a separate Accipitriformes. A recent DNA study has indicated that falcons are not closely related to the Accipitriformes, being instead related to parrots and passerines. Since then the split (but not the placement of the falcons next to the parrots or passerines) has been adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union's South American Classification Committee (SACC), its North American Classification Committee (NACC), and the International Ornithological Congress (IOC).

The DNA-based proposal and the NACC and IOC classifications include the New World vultures in the Accipitriformes, an approach followed in this article. The SACC classifies the New World vultures as a separate order. The placement of the New World vultures has been unclear since the early 1990s.