Here's what Tolkien had to say about the matter, from
Morgoth's Ring. (Apparently he couldn't make up his mind about it, either.)
Quote:
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Considering the matter of Orcs, and whether their speaking ability implies that they have souls (fëar), he observes, "Only the Valar and Maiar are intelligences that can assume forms of Arda at will. Huan and Sorontar [Thorondor] could be Maiar – emissaries of Manwë. But unfortunately in The Lord of the Rings, Gwaehir and Landroval are said to be _descendants_ of Sorontar." In this essay, he rejects the idea of souls for Orcs, and adds, "The same sort of thing may be said of Huan and the Eagles: they were taught language by the Valar, and raised to a higher level–but they still had no fëar." Still, he changed his mind about Orcs and souls several time, and never came to a final conclusion–so it may be said of the Eagles that perhaps Thorondor was an emissary of Manwë, a Maia who, like Melian, was himself immortal and begat children who were not themselves immortal (nor necessarily even possessing a fëa, although they could speak).
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As for me: I still regard Thorondor as a Maia. Whether Gwaihir was also is up in the air, but he was definitely on a higher plane than Shadowfax, (not that Shadowfax wasn't a great horse.)