Lined Forest-Falcon
Micrastur gilvicollis
Fierce-looking raptor of lowland rainforest interior east of the Andes; also ranges up into the foothills in a few areas. Gray with dense barring from throat to breast and an orange face (yellow in younger birds). Similar to Barred Forest-Falcon but usually has a darker orange face and little or no barring on lower underparts. Stays inside forest and is heard far more often than seen. Call is two or three nasal honks, repeated every few seconds.
Identification
The lined forest falcon is 33 to 38 cm (13 to 15 in) long and weighs 170 to 262 g (6.0 to 9.2 oz). It has pale gray upperparts. Its white underparts have highly variable gray barring, from light gray only on the breast to heavy bars on the entire underparts. Its tail is dark gray with a white tip and two narrow white bars. Its iris is white surrounded by bare reddish orange skin and its legs and feet are yellow.
Taxonomy
Until 1972 what is now the lined forest falcon was considered a subspecies of the barred forest falcon (M. ruficollis); the treatment as a full species was confirmed in 2019. (In the mid-20th century some previous authors had treated it as a species.) What is now the cryptic forest falcon (M. mintoni) was a population of the lined forest falcon until 2002 when vocal studies and specimen analyses determined it was a separate species. The plumbeous forest falcon (M. plumbeus) has sometimes been considered a subspecies of the lined forest falcon.<p>The lined forest falcon is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Micrastur gilvicollis
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- Falconidae
- Genus
- Micrastur
Range and habitat
The lined forest falcon is found in the Amazon Basin from eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, and northern Bolivia east through Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil to the Atlantic coast. It mostly inhabits the interior of intact tropical primary forest, though it occurs in lower density in secondary forest and forest edges. In Colombia and Ecuador it prefers terra firme forest. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 1,600 m (5,200 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
As far as is known the lined forest falcon is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The lined forest falcon hunts mostly in the forest understorey. Its diet has not been described in detail but is known to include lizards, large insects, birds, snakes, and small mammals. It sometimes follows army ant swarms.<p>Essentially nothing is known about the lined forest falcon's breeding biology. It is probably similar to that of the barred forest falcon, which see here.<p>The lined forest falcon's most common vocalization is a series of "nasal "cow-káh", "cow káw-káw" or "cow káw-káw-káw""notes. It typically calls before dawn and during wet weather.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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