Savanna hawk
In the Pantanal, Brazil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteogallus
Species:
B. meridionalis
Binomial name
Buteogallus meridionalis
(Latham, 1790)
Synonyms

Heterospizias meridionalis

The savanna hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis) is a large raptor found in open savanna and swamp edges. It was formerly placed in the genus Heterospizias. It breeds from Panama and Trinidad south to Bolivia, Uruguay and central Argentina.[2] There are also reports of it in California, from 1973 in Alameda County and from 1974 in San Diego County.[3]

Description

Flying in Goias, Brazil

The savanna hawk is 46–61 cm (18–24 in) in length and weighs 845 g (29.8 oz).[4] The adult has a rufous body with grey mottling above and fine black barring below. The flight feathers of the long broad wings are black, and the tail is banded black and white.[2][4] The legs are yellow. The call is a loud scream keeeeru.[4]

Immature birds are similar to the adults but have darker, duller upperparts, paler underparts with coarser barring, and a whitish supercilium. This species perches very vertically, and its legs are strikingly long.[4]

Food and feeding

The savanna hawk feeds on small mammals, small birds, lizards, snakes, toads, frogs, eels, other fish, crabs, roots, spiders, and large insects (such as grasshoppers).[5][6][7] It usually sits on an open high perch from which it swoops on its prey, but will also hunt on foot, and several birds may gather at grass fires.[2]

Reproduction

The nest is of sticks lined with grass and built in a palm tree.[2] The clutch is a single white egg, and the young take 6.5 to 7.5 weeks to fledging.[4]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2020). "Buteogallus meridionalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22695832A168793019. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22695832A168793019.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sabrina Ramirez (2014). "Buteogallus meridionalis (Savanna Hawk)" (PDF). University of the West Indies. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ https://ebird.org/checklist/S37650816
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. p. 236. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Buteogallus meridionalis (Savanna Hawk)" (PDF). Sta.uwi.edu. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Savanna Hawk | the Peregrine Fund".
  7. ↑ Ferguson-Lees, J. & Christie, D.A. & Franklin, K. & Mead, D. & Burton, P.. (2001). Raptors of the world. Helm Identification Guides.

Additional sources

  • ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
  • F. Gary Stiles; Alexander Frank Skutch (1989). A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4.
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