| Description |
large black hawk with short, broad, rounded wings; tail is white with a broad subterminal black band; thighs and underwing coverts spotted or obscurely barred with white; eye dark brown; cere slaty; beak black, bluish at base; legs orange-yellow; talons, black; dark brown with sandy to pale yellow-orange streaking on head, neck, and underparts; wings have amber brown mottling; tail, white to sandy with dark brown barring or marbling at the base, a broad dark subterminal band and white tip; throat whitish, primaries and secondaries barred; JUVENILE: white to sandy head, neck and underparts, darkly streaked; remaining upperparts, sepia to dark gray-brown, barred and scalloped with amber-brown; tail, crossed by 10-14 narrow dark brown bars and wider subterminal band |
| Sex |
males slightly larger than females |
| Age |
markings between adults and young so different that they are not easily recognizable as the same species |
| Length |
19-21" |
| Wingspan |
14-16" |
| Weight |
2-3 lbs. |
| Habitat |
partial to water; found in oak-pine forests of Mexico or cactus-covered hillside above a lagoon; humid mountainous areas in the tropics |
| Status |
becoming rare because of deforestation |
| Range |
American tropics; Mexico south to eastern Bolivia; Paraguay, northern Argentina; Trinidad and Tobago |
| Behavior |
screams while soaring high in the air; builds an oval, deeply cupped nest of sticks 20-40 in a tree; nest lined with dead leaves; lays 1 pale blue, brown spotted egg; little else is known at this time about their breeding habits |
| Diet |
crabs, reptiles, mammals, birds and insects found near water |
| Vocalization |
screams loudly and repeatedly while soaring |
| Other Information |
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