| Great black hawk | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Buteogallus |
| Species: | B. urubitinga |
| Binomial name | |
| Buteogallus urubitinga (Gmelin, JF, 1788) | |
| Subspecies [2] | |
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The great black hawk (Buteogallus urubitinga) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures.
The great black hawk was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the eagles, hawks and relatives in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco urubitinga. [3] Gmelin's description was ultimately based on the "urubitinga" that had been described in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae . [4] The great black hawk is now one of nine species placed in the genus Buteogallus was introduced in 1830 by the French naturalist René Lesson. [5] [6] The name genus is a portmanteau of Buteo , a genus introduced in 1779 by Bernard Germain de Lacépède for the buzzards and the genus Gallus introduced in 1760 by Mathurin Jacques Brisson for the junglefowl. The specific epithet urubitinga is from Tupi Urubú tinga meaning "big black bird" for such a raptor. [7]
Two subspecies are recognised: [6]
The adult great black hawk is 56 to 64 centimetres (22 to 25 in) long and weighs 1.1 kilograms (2 lb 7 oz). It resembles the common black hawk, but is larger with a different call and tail pattern. It has very broad wings, and is mainly black. The short tail is white with a broad black tip. The bill is black and the legs and cere are yellow.
The sexes are similar, but immature birds are dark brown above with spotting and streaks. Their underparts are buff with dark spots, and the tail has a number of black and dusky bars. The call of the great black hawk is a distinctive piping ooo-wheeeeee.
The great black hawk is a resident breeding bird in the tropical New World, from Mexico through Central America to Peru, Tobago and northern Argentina. It is a mainly coastal bird, but also lives in forests and open woodland near water.
A great black hawk was first recorded in the ABA area on South Padre Island, Texas in April 2018. [8] In August of that year the same individual, based on similarities in what is highly variable immature plumage, resurfaced in Biddeford, Maine. [9] This individual was ranked as the #1 "Craziest Vagrant of 2018" by the ABA. [10]
After disappearing for several months it reappeared in Deering Oaks park in Portland, Maine, [11] where it remained a resident until being rescued during a snow storm on January 20, [12] and transported to the bird rehab facility Avian Haven. The bird was euthanized on January 31 at Avian Haven due to extensive frostbite which prevented blood from reaching either leg or foot. [13] In January 2020 it was mounted and is set to be displayed at the Maine State Museum. [14]
It builds a large stick nest in a tree, and usually lays one dark-blotched whitish egg.
The great black hawk feeds mainly on reptiles, other small vertebrates (such as amphibians, fish, birds, and small mammals [including bats]), crabs, large insects, carrion, eggs, and fruits, often hunted on foot. [15] [16] This species is often seen soaring above woodlands. Along Amazon rivers it has been observed raiding hoatzin nesting colonies looking for eggs and chicks.
The booted eagle is a medium-sized mostly migratory bird of prey with a wide distribution in the Palearctic and southern Asia, wintering in the tropics of Africa and Asia, with a small, disjunct breeding population in south-western Africa. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae.
The shikra is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found widely distributed in Asia and Africa where it is also called the little banded goshawk. The African forms may represent a separate species but have usually been considered as subspecies of the shikra. The shikra is very similar in appearance, as well as behavior, at least to some degree, to other species including the Chinese sparrowhawk, Eurasian goshawk and Eurasian sparrowhawk. They have a sharp two note call and have the typical flap and glide flight. Their calls are imitated by drongos and the common hawk-cuckoo resembles it in plumage. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.
The Brazilian teal or Brazilian duck is the only duck in the genus Amazonetta. It is widely distributed in eastern South America.
The ferruginous pygmy owl is a small owl that breeds in south-central Arizona and southern Texas in the United States, south through Mexico and Central America, to South America into Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.
The plumbeous kite is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is resident in much of northern South America. It is migratory in the northern part of its range which extends north to Mexico. It feeds on insects which it catches either from a perch or while in flight.
The rufous-breasted hermit or hairy hermit is a hummingbird that breeds from Panama south to Bolivia, and on Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada. It is a widespread and generally common species, though local populations may change in numbers and disappear altogether in marginal habitat.
The great tinamou is a species of tinamou ground bird native to Central and South America. There are several subspecies, mostly differentiated by their coloration.
The anis are the three species of birds in the genus Crotophaga of the cuckoo family. They are essentially tropical New World birds, although the range of two species just reaches the United States.
The guira cuckoo, known in Spanish as the pirincho is a species of gregarious bird found widely in open and semi-open habitats of northeastern, eastern and southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and northeastern Argentina. It is the only species placed in the genus Guira.
The roadside hawk is a relatively small bird of prey found in the Americas. This vocal species is often the most common raptor in its range. It has many subspecies and is now usually placed in the monotypic genus Rupornis instead of Buteo.
The yellow-billed kite is the Afrotropic counterpart of the black kite, of which it is most often considered a subspecies. However, DNA studies suggest that the yellow-billed kite differs significantly from black kites in the Eurasian clade, and should be considered as a separate, allopatric species.
The rufous crab hawk or rufous crab-hawk, is a Near Threatened species of bird of prey in subfamily Accipitrinae, the "true" hawks, of family Accipitridae. It is found on Trinidad and along the South American coastline from eastern Venezuela to southern Brazil.
Buteogallus is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. All members of this genus are essentially neotropical, but the distribution of a single species extends slightly into the extreme southwestern United States. Many of the species are fond of large crustaceans and even patrol long stretches of shore or riverbank on foot where such prey abounds, but some have a rather different lifestyle. Unlike many other genera of raptor, some members are referred to as "hawks", and others as "eagles".
The spotted puffbird is a species of puffbird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The Caatinga puffbird is a species of bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is endemic to Brazil.
The São Tomé green pigeon is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the island of São Tomé in São Tomé and Príncipe. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The species was described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789. They have disappeared from Ilhéu das Rolas due to habitat loss. There are between 37,007-109,255 pigeons of this species today, but this is decreasing due to unsustainable levels of hunting.
The campo troupial or campo oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae that is found in northeastern Brazil. At one time thought to be conspecific with the Venezuelan troupial and orange-backed troupial, it is now accepted as a separate species. It is a fairly common bird and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as a "least-concern species".
Buteogallus borrasi is a species of giant buteonine hawk which went extinct in the early Holocene. Formerly endemic to Cuba, this huge bird of prey probably fed on Pleistocene megafauna. Little is known about its appearance and ecology, so no common name has been given.
Buteogallus fragilis, sometimes called the fragile eagle, is an extinct species of bird of prey that lived in North America during the Late Pleistocene. Remains representing at least 83 individuals have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits in California; the species has also been reported from Shelter Cave in New Mexico. It is similar in proportions to the common black hawk.
The red-shouldered hawk is a medium-sized buteo. Its breeding range spans eastern North America and along the coast of California and northern to northeastern-central Mexico. It is a permanent resident throughout most of its range, though northern birds do migrate, mostly to central Mexico. The main conservation threat to the widespread species is deforestation.
