The Barred Hawk is a species of bird of prey

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 Accipitridae

Accipitridae

The Accipitridae, one of the two major families within the order Accipitriformes , are a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-sized mammals, with a number feeding on carrion and a...

 family. It has also been known as the Black-chested Hawk.

It is found in 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...

, Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

, Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, and Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. 10,000 to 100,000 barred hawks are thought to exist throughout Central and South America. Barred Hawk’s are the largest of the Leucopternis genus and mainly live in the dense forests of the lowland and mountainous areas. The characteristic plumage of black barred and white belly is unique to the forests hawk of Leucopternis.

Taxonomy and Evolution

Phillip L. Schlater first classified the Barred Hawk in 1865. Barred Hawks are in the family Accipitridae

Accipitridae

The Accipitridae, one of the two major families within the order Accipitriformes , are a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-sized mammals, with a number feeding on carrion and a...

 that contains all the hawks, eagles, and old world vultures The genus, Leucopternis, means Neotropical (biogeographic region of the new world that stretches southward from the Tropic of Cancer and includes Mexico, Central and South America, and the West Indies ) hawk. Recent research-using mtDNA to analyze the phylogeny of this genus has been done. What researchers found was that the black and white plumage of genus Leucopternis has evolved at least twice, and the widespread occurrence of this plumage pattern may result from plumage convergence in forested. In classical taxonomy, the black and white plumage pattern was overemphasized in the grouping of Leucopternis and plumage patterns alone may not be reliable taxonomic markers in this family.

Physical Characteristics

L. princeps is the largest of the genus appearing black with a single white tail bar from above. The black barred and white belly and under-wing coverts contrast with the black throat, breast, and wing quills. Barred Hawks have a snout-like bill that makes them look like they have a heavy head. Members of the genus are smaller than most old world hawks, which allow them to maneuver through the thick forest canopy easier. The female Barred Hawk, showing sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...

, is larger than the males. L. princeps weigh about 1 kg and have a 364-367mm wingspan in males and a 380–388 mm wingspan in females. They have very broad wings and short tail: wingspan is 2.2 times total length of the bird. The body of a Barred Hawk is dark grey with a white chest. On the chest are uniformly spaced black bars, which is where the hawk gets its name. The white and black plumage is common among genus Leucopternis and is unique of the forest hawks of the Neotropics.

The calls of L. princeps include high-pitched screaming or whistling, hoarse “whees”, “yips”, “dits”, and ”weeps. Barred Hawks are usually noisy when soaring in the sky.

Distribution and habitat

This species of hawk has a large Extent of Occurrence of 350,000 km². The Barred Hawks is primarily a Caribbean species of the middle altitudes, and are found in Costa Rica, Peru, and Panama and on both sides of the Andes in northern Ecuador and western Columbia. Subtropical or tropical lowland and mountain forests are the natural habitat of the Barred Hawk. They live between 300 and 2,500 meters in elevation and are most abundant in the 900–1600 m elevation range.

Behavior

L. princeps hunts mostly in the canopy and along mountain forests. The hunting technique of barred hawks contains both active and inactive activities. The hawks can be seen silently sitting on a branch looking for prey or habitually soaring noisily in the sky in a group of two or more. Barred Hawks rarely leave the forest region to hunt but may hunt along the edges. They swiftly and quietly fly from branch to branch, when hunting within the forest. When perching they are usually at a mid to low height off the ground and are often on the hunt for slow prey such as frogs, snakes, small mammals and birds, and large insects.