Black-and-chestnut Eagle
Encyclopedia
The Black-and-chestnut Eagle (Spizaetus isidori) is a 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...

n 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 is sometimes called Isidor's Eagle. It is often placed in the monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Oroaetus.

This is a fairly large eagle at 63–74 cm (25–29 in) long with a wingspan of 147–166 cm (58–66 in). As an adult, this species is glossy black on the head and the back and a streaky chestnut on the underside, much of the wing primaries and legs. The juvenile bird is very different, being whitish over the head and body with a buffy wash underneath and scaly gray on the back and wings. Nest building is February and March, laying eggs in April and May and fledging young by August and September. It builds a huge stick nest about 2 m (6.6 ft) across and 1 m (3.3 ft) deep. Clutches include 1 to 2 fledgings. At the nest area, adults primarily bring squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

s to their young.

They are known to prey on woolly monkey
Woolly monkey
The woolly monkeys are the genus Lagothrix of New World monkeys, usually placed in the family Atelidae.There are four species of woolly monkey. All originate from the rainforests of South America...

s, porcupine
Porcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...

s, coati
Coati
Coatis, genera Nasua and Nasuella, also known as the Brazilian aardvark, Mexican tejón, hog-nosed coon, pizotes, crackoons and snookum bears, are members of the raccoon family . They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, and south-western North America...

s and other mid-sized arboreal mammals. Large birds such as guan
Guan
Guan may refer to either of two Chinese family names . The two names are as follows:-Guan :...

s are also taken. They frequently have much abraded tails by plunging after prey through the branches. They overlap in range with several other large forest eagles, including Solitary Eagle
Solitary Eagle
The Montane Solitary Eagle, Harpyhaliaetus solitarius, is a large Neotropical eagle.- Range and habitat :The Montane Solitary Eagle is native to Mexico and Central and South America. It is found in mountainous or hilly forests, at elevations between 600 m & 2,200 m...

 and possibly other Spizaetus
Spizaetus
Spizaetus is the typical hawk-eagle birds of prey genus found in the tropics of the Americas. It was however used to indicate a group of tropical eagles that included species occurring in southern and southeastern Asia and one representative of this genus in the rainforests of West Africa. The Old...

eagles, but no interactions have been reported and the Black-and-chestnut Eagle is believed to be normally the top avian predator in its range.

It is found humid montane forests, normally at elevations between 1,800-2,500 meters, in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 from northern 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...

, through Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, 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....

, 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...

, 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...

, to Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, with isolated populations in the Venezuelan Coastal Range
Venezuelan Coastal Range
The Venezuelan Coastal Range is a mountain range that runs along the central and eastern portions of Venezuela's northern coast...

, Serranía del Perijá
Serrania del Perija
The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch , in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela, ending further north in the Guajira Desert, a total distance of about 310 km...

 and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated mountain range apart from the Andes chain that runs through Colombia. Reaching an altitude of 5,700 metres above sea level just 42 km from the Caribbean coast, the Sierra Nevada is the world's highest coastal range...

. It is generally local and rare.
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