| Mantled hawk | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Pseudastur |
| Species: | P. polionotus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudastur polionotus (Kaup, 1847) | |
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| Synonyms | |
Leucopternis polionota(lapsus) Contents | |
The mantled hawk (Pseudastur polionotus) is a South American species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
This hawk was formerly placed in the genus Leucopternis and was known as Leucopternis polionota or polionotus [1] but is now classified as Pseudastur polionotus. [2]
The adult of this medium-sized hawk has a bulky appearance with broad “shoulders” relative to total length. [3] The body length measures 470-510mm, with females being slightly larger than males. [4] The head, neck, upper back and entire undersurface except for the black wing tips and basal half of the tail are white. [4] The white round head appears disproportionately large relative to the rest of the body and sometimes projects further than the tail. [3] There are also markings around eyes, giving a masked appearance. [3] The ceres and lores are grey or dull yellow. The bill is pale grey, gradually turning black at the tip. [3] The iris is brown but often appears black in the field. [3] The toes and tarsi are orange-yellow.
The wings, lower back and rump are black or dark bluish grey, with the dark primaries, secondaries, tertials and upper tail coverts having greyish bases with thin white square tips. [3] They also have 3-4 narrow darker bands and the broad white tips form a shallow U when seen from behind. [3] The mantle, scapulars and upper tail coverts are also black or slate grey with broad white tips, but with the coverts appearing darker than the scapulars [3] and are tipped white, sometimes giving a barred appearance. [4]
When perched, the long primaries reach or exceed the tail tip. [5] The long secondaries reach halfway to the tail tip and conceal the rump and base of tail, which makes the tail appear very short. [3]
In flight, this hawk glides on level wings and soars frequently throughout the day, though it is easily spotted when perched at exposed positions at distances over 1 km. [3] When the hawk is seen in flight from below, only the white part of the square tail is visible; but in some individuals, one or two dark bands may be visible at the tail base. Overall, it is similar to the white-necked hawk in its appearance and flight pattern, but has a broad white leading edge on the wings and tail end, whereas this is black in the white-necked hawk. [3] The dark tail base of the latter is however not usually seen in flight, making distinction between these two species difficult in the field. [3] Flat wing length measurement has been reported as 360-380mm in males, and 390-410mm in females. [4] Other reported measurements include a tail length of 178-222mm, tarsus length of 95.3mm, and culmen length from cere as 29-30mm. [4]
The juvenile is similar to the adult but the plumage is fairly spotted overall, [4] with dark streaks on the white crown and nape which are visible at a distance. [3] The upper wing coverts are fringed whitish and there are dark bars at the base of the tail which are more numerous and noticeable than in adults. [3] The cere ranges from whitish to dull yellow.
The mantled hawk has a small and patchy distribution within the Atlantic Forest of South America, but may generally occur at higher altitudes than similar species. [6] It is endemic to lowland and montane forest fragments in eastern Brazil ranging from Alagoas and Bahia to Santa Catarina; [4] southeast Paraguay in states such as Alto Paraná Department, Iguassu and Puerto Bertoni; [4] [7] and extreme northeast Argentina. [4] [8] It may also inhabit northern Uruguay. [2]
Within its humid forest habitat, this hawk especially favours foothills [1] and the elevation of its habitat ranges from sea level to at least 1500m. [9] Alongside continuous evergreen forest, it also appears to use edges, natural clearings and patches of dry trees along surrounding hills. Areas of secondary growth and extensive deforestation are also used, especially in association with Parana Pine. [10] [3]
It is commonest in east Brazil, especially in the Parapiacaba fragment of the Atlantic Forest [11] and rarer elsewhere, especially in east Uruguay and southeast Paraguay. It occurs at relatively low densities overall. [9]
Like many other hawks, the mantled hawk is a sit-and-wait predator. [12] It rests on perches 5-7m aboveground in relatively exposed areas to give a clear view of potential prey in its surroundings for it to catch and ambush [13] [7] and these areas may include recently cleared patches of forest. [7] It captures its prey after a short rapid flight from its perch, where it returns to eat it. [13] Prey consists primarily of smaller birds such as tanagers, trogons, [13] doves [14] and rufous-sided crake. [15] Other prey may include lizards, snakes and small rodents. [7]
The population has become substantially reduced and fragmented through persistent deforestation of its habitat, particularly through exploitation of iron ore deposits. [7] However, the threat from deforestation is considered to be less than for other hawk species such as white-necked hawk because of the former species’ more upland and extensive range. [1]
Although agricultural conversion and deforestation for mining and plantation production have led to large population declines, these are regarded as historical threats. [16] Currents threats to the species include urbanisation, industrialisation, agricultural expansion, colonisation and associated road-building. [17] However, this hawk may be able to adapt to patchworks of pine plantations and native forest. [1] Its ability to persist in fragmented forests is a topic of ongoing investigation and an extension of the protected area network to include remaining core areas of forest, alongside increased protection of remaining forest patches, has been suggested. [1]
This raptor displays marked territorial behaviour in human presence, defending its territory against human intruders by regurgitating stomach contents or by pursuit. [7] In human presence, mantled hawks are fairly vocal and call repeatedly, which makes them relatively easy to detect when present a few kilometres away. [3]
This raptor has been evaluated as Near Threatened by the IUCN since 2004 because of the small and strongly declining population. [1] The overall population is estimated at 3500-15000 individuals. [1]
The changeable hawk-eagle(Nisaetus cirrhatus) or crested hawk-eagle is a large bird of prey species of the family Accipitridae. More informal or antiquated English common names include the marsh hawk-eagle or Indian crested hawk-eagle. It is a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, with signature feathers, absent in tropical raptors from outside this subfamily, covering the tarsus. It was formerly placed in the genus Spizaetus, but studies pointed to the group being paraphyletic resulting in the Old World members being placed in Nisaetus and separated from the New World species. It is a typical “hawk-eagle” in that it is an agile forest-dwelling predator and like many such eagles readily varies its prey selection between birds, mammals or reptiles as well as other vertebrates. Among the members of its genus, the changeable hawk-eagle stands out as the most widely distributed, adaptable and abundant species. Individuals show a wide range of variation in plumage from pale to dark, varying with moult and age giving rise to the name "changeable".
The mountain hawk-eagle or Hodgson's hawk-eagle, is a large bird of prey native to Asia. The latter name is in reference to the naturalist, Brian Houghton Hodgson, who described the species after collecting one himself in the Himalayas. A less widely recognized common English name is the feather-toed eagle. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. Its feathered tarsus marks this species as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae. It is a confirmed breeding species in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, from India, Nepal through Bangladesh to Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan, although its distribution could be wider still as breeding species. Like other Asian hawk-eagles, this species was earlier treated under the genera of Spizaetus but genetic studies have shown this group to be paraphyletic, resulting in the Old World members being placed in Nisaetus and separated from the New World species. As is typical of hawk-eagles, the mountain hawk-eagle is a forest dwelling opportunistic predator who readily varies its prey selection between birds, mammals and reptiles along with other vertebrates. Although classified currently as a least-concern species due its persistence over a rather wide distribution, this species is often quite rare and scarce and seems to be decreasing, especially in response to large-scale habitat degradation and deforestation.
The white hawk is a bird of prey breeding in the tropical New World of the family Accipitridae. Though it is commonly placed in the subfamily Buteoninae, the validity of this group is doubtful and currently under review.
The ornate hawk-eagle is a fairly large bird of prey from the tropical Americas. Formerly, some authorities referred to this species as the crested hawk-eagle, a name that may cause some confusion as it is more commonly used for an Asian eagle species. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. This species has a feathered tarsus that marks it as a member of the Aquilinae or booted eagle subfamily. This species is notable for the vivid colors and bold markings of adults, which differ considerably from the far more whitish plumage of the juvenile bird. The ornate hawk-eagle ranges from central Mexico south through much of Central America and in a somewhat spotty but broad overall range into South America, including in the west apart from the Andes and broadly on the Atlantic side especially Brazil down to as far as Southeast Brazil and northern Argentina. This species is found largely in primary forests with tall trees, although can be found in many forest types.
The long-tailed hawk is an African bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is the only member of the genus Urotriorchis.
The white-tailed hawk is a large bird of prey species found in tropical and subtropical environments of the Americas.
The black-chested buzzard-eagle is a bird of prey of the hawk and eagle family (Accipitridae). It lives in open regions of South America. This species is also known as the black buzzard-eagle, the gray buzzard-eagle, or analogously with "eagle" or "eagle-buzzard" replacing "buzzard-eagle", or as the Chilean blue eagle. It is sometimes placed in the genus Buteo.
The African cuckoo-hawk, or African baza, is a medium-sized raptor in the family Accipitridae so named because it resembles the common cuckoo. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa and along the eastern parts of Southern Africa, preferring dense woodland and forest of either indigenous or exotic trees.
The tiny hawk is a small diurnal bird of prey found in or near forests, primarily humid, throughout much of the Neotropics. It is primarily a bird-eater, and is known to prey on hummingbirds.
The grey-bellied hawk or grey-bellied goshawk is a fairly large and rare species of forest-dwelling South American bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
The Madagascar cuckoo-hawk, also known as the Madagascar baza or the Madagascan cuckoo falcon, is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Madagascar.
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 Congo serpent eagle is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Dryotriorchis, although it was formerly placed in Circaetus. This species is distributed across the African tropical rainforest, including upper and lower Guinean forests. This serpent eagle specializes in hunting in these forests’ dark understories. It has two subspecies, the nominate subspecies Dryotriorchis spectabilis spectabilis and Dryotriorchis spectabilis batesi. Though monotypic, it appears to be very closely related to Circaetus. This hawk is a medium-sized bird with distinctive short, rounded wings and a long, rounded tail. It is varying shades of brown on its back and has a slight crest. Its breast is white with variable amounts of a rufous wash and, in the nominate subspecies, is covered in round, blackish spots. The subspecies D. s. batesi only has these dots on its flanks. The Congo serpent eagle closely resembles Cassin's hawk-eagle, and some ornithologists believe that this likeness is a rare example of avian mimicry. It is a very vocal raptor, and often is one of the most heard species in its habitat.
Ayres's hawk-eagle, also referred to as Ayres' eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is native to African woodlands. Its name honors South African ornithologist Thomas Ayres.
The white-browed hawk is a species of bird of prey in subfamily Accipitrinae, the "true" hawks, of family Accipitridae. It is found Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru.
The white-necked hawk is a Vulnerable species of bird of prey in subfamily Accipitrinae, the "true" hawks, of family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Brazil.
The black-faced hawk is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. This low-density species has traditionally been believed to be restricted to Amazon Basin north of the Amazon River, but there are several records south of this river, in, for example, the Brazilian states of Pará and Acre, and southeastern Peru. It is closely related to the white-browed hawk and individuals showing a level of intermediacy between the two species are known, suggesting that they rarely hybridize
The grey-backed hawk is an Endangered species of bird of prey in subfamily Accipitrinae, the "true" hawks, of family Accipitridae. It is found in Ecuador and far northern Peru.
The barred hawk is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It has also been known as the black-chested hawk.
The semiplumbeous hawk is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
