Savanna Hawk
Buteogallus meridionalis
Beautiful orangish raptor with a widespread distribution across Central and South America. Overall cinnamon-colored with dark barring on the underparts. Upperparts are darker brown except for contrasting cinnamon shoulders. In flight, note white tail band and mostly cinnamon flight feathers. Immatures can be mostly whitish on the head and belly, often with heavy dark markings. Note shape (short-tailed and long-legged) and habitat. Singles or pairs are found in open habitats, often perched conspicuously on a fence post or treetop.
Identification
The savanna hawk is 46–61 cm (18–24 in) in length and weighs 845 g (29.8 oz). 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. The legs are yellow. The call is a loud scream keeeeru.<p>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.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Buteogallus meridionalis
- Authority
- (Latham, 1790)
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Buteogallus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Bougainville Fantail
Rhipidura drownei
Small and drab with a long, often fanned tail. Mostly gray-brown above and slightly lighter tawny below, with a grayish head and a white eyebrow. Inhabits montane forest above 700 meters of elevation. Similar to White-winged Fantail, but has a plain grayish chest. Separated from Solomons Rufous Fantail by much duller plumage and lack of white tail tip. Voice includes a faint, high-pitched tinkling whistle.
Band-tailed Antwren
Myrmotherula urosticta
Small, short-tailed antwren. Look for the broad white tail-tip. Males are gray with black bibs and wing coverts; females are light gray above and buff below. Found in humid forests, where it forages in the understory and at middle levels, usually together with mixed-species flocks. The song is a nasal series of clear “tjeuwi” notes.
Javan Leafbird
Chloropsis cochinchinensis
Medium-sized, leaf-green inhabitant of lowland, foothill, and lower montane forests on Java. Male a triangular black throat patch with a deep blue center, as well as a pale yellow patch on the breast. Female is green all over with a small blue throat smudge. Both sexes have vivid blue highlights on the wings, which help to distinguish it from Greater Green Leafbird, which has plain green wings, as well as a pale yellow throat and eyering on females. Vocalizations varied, including a rather slow, simple song consisting of whistles and warbles, as well as shorter warbled series somewhat reminiscent of bulbul vocalizations.
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