Chilean Hawk
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| Chilean Hawk | ||||||||||||||
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| Accipiter chilensis Philippi & Landbeck, 1864 |
The Chilean Hawk, Accipiter chilensis, is a species of bird of prey. It is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the Bicoloured Hawk, Accipiter bicolor. Although chilensis and bicolor show differences in habitat preference and disjunct distribution, the situation is complicated in that, for example, the subspecies pileatus is intermediate in plumage between bicolor and chilensis.
It breeds in the Andes of Chile and western Argentina from Coquimbo to Tierra del Fuego in forests from sea level to 2,700 m altitude. It winters in lowlands to northwest Argentina.
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[edit] Description
The male is 37 to 38 cm long, and the female 41-42 cm. The adult has black upperparts and an ash-grey chest and abdomen with dark barring. The throat has longitudinal dark stripes and the undertail is white. The uppertail is brown with 5 or 6 dark bands. The legs are greenish yellow, and the eyes are yellow. The sexes have similar plumage.
Young birds have browner upperparts with cream fringes to the feathers. The paler chest and abdomen have longitudinal stripes. The paler uppertail makes the banding more obvious.
[edit] Behaviour
The nest platform is built on forked branches in the upper part of a tree, 16-20 m above ground. In a recent study of five nests [1], one nest and one nesting tree were reused. Nests were built close to the main trunk or a vertical gross branch. The nesting trees were live Nothofagus dombeyi trees.
The measured nests were oval-shaped platforms built with strongly intertwined dry twigs and sticks. The egg-shell remains found under the nesting trees were light bluish white or dull white, unspotted and nonglossy on the outer surface, and bluish tinged on the inner surface.
The Chilean Hawk's diet [2] is almost exclusively birds (97.8% of all prey remains), with relatively few rodents (1.6%) and insects (0.6%). At least 19 vertebrate species were found. The most common 18 bird consumed were Austral Thrush Turdus falcklandii, White-crested Elaenia Elaenia albiceps, Black-chinned Siskin Carduelis barbata, Fire-eyed Diucon Xolmis pyrope, and Thorn-tailed Rayadito Aphrastura spinicauda. This species feeds primarily on forest-dwelling birds.
[edit] Status
The Chilean Hawk) is one of the least studied raptors in the Patagonian temperate forest, because of its forest habitat and secretive behaviour, but has been listed as rare throughout its range, although it is considered relatively common in Cape Horn province.
Its populations are considered threatened due to increasing habitat loss from extensive fires, logging pressures, and hunting [3]
