Collared Forest-Falcon
Micrastur semitorquatus
Large and lanky, but heard much more often than seen. Widespread in tropical forest, ranging into semi-open areas with larger trees; in West Mexico it even occurs up into pine-oak forest high in the mountains. Hunts from canopy to forest floor, but usually calls from high in trees. Note the long yellow legs and long rounded tail with narrow white bars. Adults are usually white below, with dark ‘sideburns,’ but can be buffy below, and very rarely are black overall. Immatures have variable dark barring below.
Identification
The collared forest falcon has a dark coloured back with a white neck and breast. The species has three morphological variants (morphs): pale, tawny and dark. The former two have a light coloured collar at the back of their neck, which explains their name. This is the largest species of the forest falcon genus, with a total length of 46 to 58 cm (18 to 23 in), wingspan of 72 to 86 cm (28 to 34 in) and male weights of 467 to 646 g (1.030 to 1.424 lb), averaging some 523 g (1.153 lb), and female weights of 649–940 g (1.431–2.072 lb), averaging 740 g (1.63 lb), this species is nearly the size of peregrine falcon albeit longer-tailed and much shorter-winged. Although its forest lifestyle, rounded short wings, long tail and lack of the characteristic beak tooth suggest affinities to hawks, there are several morphological connections to the Falconidae in which it is now placed, e.g. moult pattern and the morphology of the skull.<p>M. semitorquatus display sexual size dimorphism, with the female being much larger than the males on many accounts such as mass, size of beak, tail and wing chord. It averages a value of 9.5 on the dimorphism index (moderately large). This value was calculated from observations done at Tikal National Park in Guatemala.<p>Nestlings are born with a cover of natal down, white nails, light yellow legs and short, deep, laterally, yellowish white compressed beaks. Their heads are held up and eyes open after a couple days. Pupils begin with a blue back hue and black iris which turns to a more chocolate brown after four weeks. After a few weeks the young are able to defend themselves if bothered. Down feathers will be gone by the sixth week, replaced with juvenile feathers. However, fledging will occur before wing and tail feathers are completely grown. In the weeks that follow, fledglings will continue to move further from the nesting site as they grow bigger and more confident.
Taxonomy
The collared forest falcon is a member of the order Falconiformes in the family Falconidae. The largest member of the genus Micrastur, it has two recognized subspecies: M. s. naso and M. s. semitorquatus. The former occurs in regions starting from Mexico south descending through Central America towards the west Andes in Colombia, Ecuador and extreme northwest Peru. Alternatively, the latter is found mostly on the east side of the Andes.<p>Other members of the Micrastur genus include:<p>M. semitorquatus at first was thought to include the species M. buckleyi, however this conclusion was disregarded after the description of a female and immature Buckley's forest falcon was done by Amadon (1964). The latter termed them different species and this view has been kept since then.<p>Morphological traits adapted to flying in a dense forest habitat - shorter rounded wings, long legs and tail - represent an example of convergent evolution with the Accipiter species.
- Scientific name
- Micrastur semitorquatus
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- Falconidae
- Genus
- Micrastur
Range and habitat
The species is commonly found in many Central and South American countries: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The species is extremely widespread, with a total estimated population between 500,000 and 5 million individuals. Furthermore, they are year-round residents of their Latin American home.<p>Due to their distinct morphology, the collared forest falcon is able to inhabit a variety of habitats from moister regions such as mangroves, tropical and rain forests to gallery forest and tall second growth. They tend to prefer regions where the undergrowth is relatively dense and where they can move and hunt more easily within it. They range from sea level to 2500 m elevation.<p>Around ten territorial pairs are estimated to occupy a 100 km2 area. However, these estimates are based on radio telemetry of individuals during the breeding season and therefore they may be different in another context.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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