| Common black hawk | |
|---|---|
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| Common black hawk in Costa Rica | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Buteogallus |
| Species: | B. anthracinus |
| Binomial name | |
| Buteogallus anthracinus (Deppe, 1830) | |
| Subspecies[2] | |
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Thecommon black hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus) is abird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes theeagles,hawks, andvultures.
The adult common black-hawk is 43–53 cm (17–21 in) long and weighs 930 g (33 oz) on average. It has very broad wings, and is mainly black or dark gray. The short tail is black with a single broad white band and a white tip. The bill is black and the legs and cere are yellow. The adults resemblezone-tailed hawks, but have fewer white bars on their tail and are larger in size.
Sexes are similar, but immature birds are dark brown above with spotting and streaks. Their underparts are buff to whitish with dark blotches, and the tail has a number of black and white bars.
It formerly included theCuban black-hawk (Buteogallus gundlachii) as asubspecies. Themangrove black hawk, traditionally considered a distinct species, is now generally considered a subspecies,B. a. subtilis, of the common black-hawk.[3]
The common black-hawk is a breeding bird in the warmer parts of theAmericas, from theSouthwestern United States throughCentral America toVenezuela,Peru,Trinidad, and theLesser Antilles. It is a mainly coastal, resident bird ofmangrove swamps, estuaries and adjacent dry open woodland, though there are inland populations, including a migratory population in north-westernMexico andArizona.
The bird builds a platform nest of sticks fifteen to one hundred feet above the ground in a tree, often a mangrove. Nests are often reused and tend to grow bigger. It lays one to three eggs (usually one), which are whitish with brown markings.
It has hybridized naturally with thered-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) in Sonoma County, California, USA.[4] This natural hybridization between different genera of hawks is rare.
It feeds mainly oncrabs (especiallyland crabs) andcrayfish, but will also take smallvertebrates (such asfish,frogs,turtle hatchlings,lizards,snakes and small, young or injured birds andmammals),carrion (in form of dead fish) and eggs.[5][6][7] The common black hawk also supplements its diet with a variety ofinsects, includinggrasshoppers,caterpillars andwasplarvae.[5][6][7] This species is often seen soaring, with occasional lazy flaps, and has a talon-touching aerial courtship display. The call is a distinctive pipingspink-speenk-speenk-spink-spink-spink.
The common black hawk is protected in the far north of its range (in the USA) under theMigratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.[8]
