Rufous crab hawk

Appearance

The rufous crab hawk is 42.5 to 46 cm in overall length with a 90 to 106 cm wingspan. Males weigh 506 to 665 g; females are heavier and weigh around 725 to 945 g. Males and females have the same plumage. Adults' head, throat, and neck are sooty black and their back is dark rufous with light rufous edging. Their underparts are rufous with fine dark barring. The tail is black with a white tip and a thin white band. Their eyes are brown and their cere and feet are yellow to dusky orange. Immatures have brown to blackish brown upperparts, a grayish tail, and white underparts with dusky streaks.

Distribution

The rufous crab hawk is found on Trinidad and on the South American mainland along the coast from the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela through the Guianas and into Brazil as far as the southeastern state of Paraná.

Status

The IUCN originally assessed the rufous crab hawk as being of Least Concern but since 2013 has classed it as Near Threatened. Its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. Ongoing destruction of its mangrove habitat is the principal threat. It varies from rare to fairly common in indifferent parts of its range. Its "restricted habitat makes it highly susceptible locally to any form of deterioration or loss of this habitat" but "this species may tolerate some mangrove disturbance and is found in suburban mangrove swamps in Pará, Brazil."

Habitat

It primarily inhabits mangroves but also occurs in swamps, wet savanna, and river edges near the coast, all essentially at sea level.

Reproduction

The rufous crab hawk makes a "sky-dance" display; it is suspected that only the male performs it. Its breeding season varies geographically, for example between February and August in Suriname and apparently from September onward in southeastern Brazil. It makes a nest of twigs lined with leaves in a mangrove or other tree near water. The clutch size is usually one egg though sometimes two are laid. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Food

The rufous crab hawk's diet is mostly, and possibly entirely, crabs. It catches them with a short dive from a low perch; it typically takes them to a favored site like a stump to consume them.