Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon
Micrastur mirandollei
Forest-falcons are well-named raptors; they are found almost exclusively inside the forest. They are generally slender and long-tailed, with long legs. Slaty-backed is clean-looking, smooth gray above and white below. Juveniles have a scaly pattern on breast. Similar to several other raptors, including Bicolored Hawk; note more extensive yellow skin around eye. As with all forest-falcons, more often heard than seen, and more easily identified by voice. Sings from the canopy, mostly at dawn and dusk. Listen for series of mournful “aww” notes, similar in tone to Collared Forest-Falcon (but Collared typically gives single notes).
Identification
The slaty-backed forest falcon is 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 in) long. Males weigh about 420 g (15 oz) and females about 500 to 556 g (18 to 20 oz). Its wingspan is 65 to 71 cm (26 to 28 in). Adults have slate gray upperparts, and are darker on the crown and lighter on the cheeks. Their throat and underparts are white to cream, and plain but for a few dark feather shafts making streaks. Their tail is dark slate gray with a white tip and three narrow white bars that often are indistinct. Their iris is yellowish brown to dark brown, its cere greenish yellow, and its legs and feet bright yellow. Juveniles have dark brownish gray upperparts and off-white to yellowish buff underparts with a scaly appearance.
Taxonomy
The slaty-backed, collared, and Buckley's forest falcons are sister species. The slaty-backed forest falcon is monotypic. The populationin Central America and western Colombia and Ecuador has at times been treated as subspecies M. m. extimus but this separation has not been widely recognized.
- Scientific name
- Micrastur mirandollei
- Authority
- (Schlegel, 1862)
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- Falconidae
- Genus
- Micrastur
Range and habitat
The slaty-backed forest falcon is found from Costa Rica through Panama and western Colombia into western Ecuador's Esmeraldas Province. A separate, much larger, range 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 lowland rainforest, favoring undisturbed areas, but also occurs in mature secondary forest and sometimes in rather open landscapes. It is often found near watercourses. In elevation it occurs as high as 500 m (1,600 ft) but is mostly below 200 m (700 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Certhilauda subcoronata
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Rufous-winged Fulvetta
Schoeniparus castaneceps
Ornately patterned fulvetta with a rich coffee-brown crown, an orange wing panel, and a decurved black brow and thin mustache on a white face. Moves quickly through the lower and middle levels of the forest in large flocks, often mixed in with other species, including babblers, leaf warblers, and other fulvettas. Clambers around on trunks and branches like a nuthatch or a treecreeper. Inhabits mid- to high-altitude broadleaf forests. Calls include trills, rattles, and chips. Song is a high-pitched “wee-chee-chee-wee-chee.”
African Firefinch
Lagonosticta rubricata
Small brown and reddish waxbill with a blue-gray bill and black under the tail. Varies geographically, but in many areas, has a mostly gray head. Found along forest edge and in cultivation, thick woodland, and scrub. Usually in pairs or small groups. Call is a short, low trill. Quiet song is a mix of low trills and much higher-pitched whines and whistles. Similar to Red-billed and Bar-breasted firefinches but shows black under the tail. Subspecies without gray on the head can be extremely similar to Jameson’s Firefinch, but they are darker and less pinkish overall.
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