Barred Forest-falcon
Encyclopedia
The Barred Forest Falcon (Micrastur ruficollis) is a species of bird of prey
in the Falconidae
family which includes the falcon
s, caracara
s, and their relatives. It occurs throughout most of tropical and subtropical Latin America
, except the arid Pacific coast in South America
, northern and western Mexico
, and the Antilles
.
are typically dark slate grey above; the tail tipped with white and having three to six narrow white bars. The throat is pale grey, shading to the darker slate of the crown. The rest of his under parts, including the under-wing coverts are white, finely and clearly barred with black or dark grey. The upper breast is a darker grey. The primary remiges are dark brownish-grey with off-white bars on the inner webs. One subspecies, zonothorax from the East Andean foothills, is polymorphic
(at least in the northern part of its range), and also occurs in a brown morph, where most of the upperparts, head and chest are brown or rufous
instead of grey. The nominate subspecies, which is found from south-eastern Brazil
south to north-eastern Argentina
and west to Paraguay
, appears to only occur in the rufous-brown morphotype, as also suggested by its scientific name, ruficollis.
The eyes are cream
to light orange brown; the bill
black, becoming yellow at base of the lower mandible; the cere
, lores, and orbit are yellow, and the legs are orange-yellow.
, the species is generally restricted to mature tropical forests. In South America
, however, the Barred Forest Falcon lives in other kinds of forests and woodland
, even relatively arid. For example, in Amazonia it occurs most often in secondary forest
s, gallery forest
s, tidal swamp forests, semi-deciduous forests and forest edges. In Acre
, Brazil, the Barred Forest Falcon is reported to prefer disturbed forest types, both natural secondary and man made, including bamboo
and more open seasonally drier forest on rocky outcrops. But generally it is a bird that avoids habitat when human influence is too pronounced, and will require primary or mature secondary forest to persist in any location. It is not commonly seen, but based on voice, it appears to be uncommon to fairly common throughout a large part of its range
. This combined with its large range has led to it being classified as a species of Least Concern
by the IUCN.
It is rare on the eastern slope of the Colombia
n Cordillera Oriental, where it was recorded in primary forest and old secondary forest, in a narrow altitude band between 3,300-4,900 ft (1,000-1,500 m) ASL
, and first encountered in the Serranía de las Quinchas
only in 2000/2001. Second-growth forest in these mountains is dominated by trees like Melastomaceae (e.g. Miconia
and Tibouchina
) and trees are generally overgrown with epiphyte
s and hemiepiphyte
s like Coussapoa (Urticaceae
).
This species feed primarily upon small birds, mammal
s (mainly rodent
s and marsupials such as the Brazilian Slender Opossum
, Marmosops paulensis) and squamates. Like Accipiter
hawk
s, they often hunt prey by sitting quietly on tree branches and waiting for their victims to appear. When the latter arrive, the forest-falcons quickly ambush them, attempting to catch them with a brief, flying pursuit. However, forest-falcons also use other techniques to hunt prey, such as chasing prey on foot, following army ant
swarms, and acoustical luring of birds, by means of a "facial disc". The species has also been recorded to snatch animals from traps or cages, for example during mark-recapture studies.
Forest-falcons do not build a nest, but lay their two or three white eggs in cavities in trees. Laying occurs mainly late in the dry season, with hatching taking place at the onset of the rainy season
, a time of increasing prey abundance. Eggs hatch 33–35 days after being laid, and nestlings fledge 35–44 days after hatching. Radio-tagged fledgling
s dispersed from their parents' territories within four to seven weeks after fledging, presumably achieving independence at that time. Nesting territories were occupied year after year; there is also high mate fidelity.
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
in the Falconidae
Falconidae
The falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae. The family is divided into two subfamiles, Polyborinae, which includes the caracaras and forest falcons, and Falconinae, the falcons, kestrels and falconets.-Description:Falcons and...
family which includes the falcon
Falcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
s, caracara
Caracara
Caracaras are birds of prey in the family Falconidae. They are traditionally placed in the subfamily Polyborinae, but are sometimes considered part of their own subfamily, Caracarinae, or members of the true falcon subfamily, Falconinae...
s, and their relatives. It occurs throughout most of tropical and subtropical Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, except the arid Pacific coast in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, northern and western Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and the Antilles
Antilles
The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
.
Description
Adults of most subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
are typically dark slate grey above; the tail tipped with white and having three to six narrow white bars. The throat is pale grey, shading to the darker slate of the crown. The rest of his under parts, including the under-wing coverts are white, finely and clearly barred with black or dark grey. The upper breast is a darker grey. The primary remiges are dark brownish-grey with off-white bars on the inner webs. One subspecies, zonothorax from the East Andean foothills, is polymorphic
Polymorphism (biology)
Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...
(at least in the northern part of its range), and also occurs in a brown morph, where most of the upperparts, head and chest are brown or rufous
Rufous
Rufous is a colour that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron.The first recorded use of rufous as a colour name in English was in the year 1782....
instead of grey. The nominate subspecies, which is found from south-eastern Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
south to north-eastern Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and west to Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, appears to only occur in the rufous-brown morphotype, as also suggested by its scientific name, ruficollis.
The eyes are cream
Cream (colour)
Cream is the colour of the cream produced by cattle grazing on natural pasture with plants rich in yellow carotenoid pigments, some of which are incorporated into the cream, to give a yellow tone to white. Cream is the pastel colour of yellow, much like as pink is to red. Cream is used as a skin...
to light orange brown; the bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
black, becoming yellow at base of the lower mandible; the cere
Cère
The Cère is a long river in south-western France, left tributary of the Dordogne River. Its source is in the south-western Massif Central, near the mountain Plomb du Cantal...
, lores, and orbit are yellow, and the legs are orange-yellow.
Ecology
Barred Forest Falcons mainly utilize mature upland forest. In Central AmericaCentral America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, the species is generally restricted to mature tropical forests. In South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, however, the Barred Forest Falcon lives in other kinds of forests and woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
, even relatively arid. For example, in Amazonia it occurs most often in secondary forest
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
s, gallery forest
Gallery forest
Gallery forests are evergreen forests that form as corridors along rivers or wetlands and project into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands or deserts....
s, tidal swamp forests, semi-deciduous forests and forest edges. In Acre
Acre (state)
Acre is one of the 27 states of Brazil. It is situated in the southwest of the Northern Region, bordering Amazonas to the north, Rondônia to the east, Bolivia to the southeast and the Ucayali Region of Peru to the south and west. It occupies an area of 152,581.4 km2, being slightly smaller...
, Brazil, the Barred Forest Falcon is reported to prefer disturbed forest types, both natural secondary and man made, including bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
and more open seasonally drier forest on rocky outcrops. But generally it is a bird that avoids habitat when human influence is too pronounced, and will require primary or mature secondary forest to persist in any location. It is not commonly seen, but based on voice, it appears to be uncommon to fairly common throughout a large part of its range
Range (biology)
In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...
. This combined with its large range has led to it being classified as a species of Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
by the IUCN.
It is rare on the eastern slope of the Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n Cordillera Oriental, where it was recorded in primary forest and old secondary forest, in a narrow altitude band between 3,300-4,900 ft (1,000-1,500 m) ASL
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
, and first encountered in the Serranía de las Quinchas
Serranía de las Quinchas
The Serranía de las Quinchas is an 860 km2 area of tropical rainforest and cloud forest in Colombia. It lies in the mid Magdalena River Valley in the foothills of the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes. It ranges in altitude from 200 m to 1700 m asl...
only in 2000/2001. Second-growth forest in these mountains is dominated by trees like Melastomaceae (e.g. Miconia
Miconia
Miconia is a genus of flowering plants in the glory bush family, Melastomataceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species are mostly shrubs and small to medium-sized trees up to 15 m tall...
and Tibouchina
Tibouchina
Tibouchina is a genus of about 350 species of neotropical plants in the family Melastomataceae. They are trees, shrubs or subshrubs growing 0.5–25 m tall, and are known as glory bushes or glory trees. They are native to rainforests of Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America, especially Brazil...
) and trees are generally overgrown with epiphyte
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
s and hemiepiphyte
Hemiepiphyte
A hemiepiphyte is a plant which begins its life as an epiphyte but which later grows roots down into the ground. The seeds of hemiepiphytes germinate in the canopy and initially live epiphytically...
s like Coussapoa (Urticaceae
Urticaceae
Urticaceae, or the nettle family, is a family of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus Urtica . Urticaceae includes a number of well-known and useful plants, including the aforementioned nettles, Ramie , māmaki , and ajlai .The family includes approximately 2600 species, grouped...
).
This species feed primarily upon small birds, mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s (mainly rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s and marsupials such as the Brazilian Slender Opossum
Brazilian Slender Opossum
The Brazilian Slender Opossum, Marmosops paulensis, is an opossum species from South America. It is found in moist montane forest in the Atlantic Forest region of southeastern Brazil. Its breeding appears to be fully semelparous, unusual for a mammal....
, Marmosops paulensis) and squamates. Like Accipiter
Accipiter
The genus Accipiter is a group of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae, many of which are named as goshawks and sparrowhawks. They can be anatomically distinguished from their relatives by the lack of a procoracoid foramen. Two small and aberrant species usually placed here do possess a large...
hawk
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
s, they often hunt prey by sitting quietly on tree branches and waiting for their victims to appear. When the latter arrive, the forest-falcons quickly ambush them, attempting to catch them with a brief, flying pursuit. However, forest-falcons also use other techniques to hunt prey, such as chasing prey on foot, following army ant
Army ant
The name army ant is applied to over 200 ant species, in different lineages, due to their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", in which huge numbers of ants forage simultaneously over a certain area, attacking prey en masse.Another shared feature is that, unlike most ant...
swarms, and acoustical luring of birds, by means of a "facial disc". The species has also been recorded to snatch animals from traps or cages, for example during mark-recapture studies.
Forest-falcons do not build a nest, but lay their two or three white eggs in cavities in trees. Laying occurs mainly late in the dry season, with hatching taking place at the onset of the rainy season
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
, a time of increasing prey abundance. Eggs hatch 33–35 days after being laid, and nestlings fledge 35–44 days after hatching. Radio-tagged fledgling
Fledgling
Fledgling or Fledglings may refer to:* Curtiss Fledgling, a trainer aircraft* Fergie's Fledglings, a group of Manchester United players recruited under the management of Alex Ferguson...
s dispersed from their parents' territories within four to seven weeks after fledging, presumably achieving independence at that time. Nesting territories were occupied year after year; there is also high mate fidelity.
External links
- "Barred Forest Falcon" photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res
- Article & photo. The Peregrine Fond.
- Recordings. Xeno-Canto.