Biology:Savanna hawk

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Short description: Species of bird

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

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. 

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q600791 entry