Sunday, May 29, 2022

Bulletin 396 - Colombia 2021 #13 - Hawks and Falcons

 I finally made it back to Colombia for my second visit and again used the guide services of Pablo Florez. I went with my friend Martin Jackson. We visited Inirida on the Orinoco, Santa Marta of course, Guajira Peninsula on the Caribbean coast, and a couple of National Parks around Bogota.

Hawks and falcons are always favorites of birders because of the sense of power and strength. We saw several species of hawks as well as 2 falcon species. Some were life birds and some were 1st time photos of species.

The 20" Black-collared Hawk (Busarellus nigricollis) is a beautiful rufous colored raptor with a white head and black chest. It is found along swamps, mangroves and lakes. It usually perches low to the water as it hunts for fish, amphibians and snails. 

Black-collared Hawk

The 20" Common Black Hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus) is also found along waterways. This juvie was photographed in a palm tree on the Caribbean coast.

Common Black Hawk - juvenile

His larger cousin, the 24" Great Black Hawk (Buteogallus urubitinga) is found perched along the waters edge. This was a lifer for me. I had been looking for this bird on all my tropical trips. We were able to approach in the boat to within 10 meters from the bird. Wow

Great Black Hawk

Another smaller cousin is the 15" Slate-colored Hawk (Buteogallus schistaceus). He is also associated with water - but the still black water in flooded forests. He was also a life bird for me.

Slate-colored Hawk

The 18" Grey-lined Hawk (Buteo nitidis) is identical to the Grey Hawk in southern USA. They were split and this bird is south of Costa Rica. 

Grey-lined Hawk

The last hawk is the very common 15" Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris). It has a range from Mexico to Argentina - so a person should see it on every trip.

Roadside Hawk

The 11" Bat Falcon (Falco rufigularis) was a treat to see again. I saw it for the first time in 1993, on my first trip to the tropics in Belize. I had not seen it again until this trip.

Bat Falcon

The 17" adult Black Caracara (Daptrius ater) is an all black bird with reddish facial skin. The juvenile has yellow facial skin.

Black Caracara

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 76 of the 254 species of hawks, eagles and kites

I have photos of 18 of the 65 species of falcons and caracaras

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2022 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

No comments: