Black-faced hawk

Appearance

The black-faced hawk is a medium-sized hawk with black and white plumage. It has a white underbelly, a large white head streaked with some black and a characteristic black "mask". Below the black mask, it has a dark orange cere and a black tipped bill. The back of the hawk is dark all the way down to the tail with some mottling. However, a single white band sticks out near the base of the tail.

Juvenile plumage resembles adult plumage except that juveniles have thinner streaks of black on the head, two white bands instead of a single one in the tail, and brown at the tips of the feathers.

The black-faced hawk adult looks very similar to the juvenile white-browed hawk. Both hawks have a white head streaked with black, a black face mask and white mottling on the back. The key difference between the sister species is that there are two white bands in the tail of the juvenile white-browed hawk whereas there is only a single band in the adult black-faced hawk. Additionally, at any age, "L. melanops" has a greater amount of white in the back compared to "Leucopternis kuhli".

Naming

closely related to the white-browed hawk and individuals showing a level of intermediacy between the two species are known, suggesting that they rarely hybridize

Distribution

Despite the status of the black-faced hawk as being a rare to uncommon bird, it is widespread north of the Amazon River. Its occurrence south of the Amazon is controversial due to possible confusion with "L. kuhli" which occurs there. However, the consensus on the range limits for "L. melanops" is from lowland Peru north of the Amazon and northeastern Ecuador to Venezuela, southern Colombia, Brazil north of the Amazon and the Guyanas.

Behavior

The black-faced hawk prefers to remain under forest cover but due to its occurrence near the forest edge, it may perch there and commonly-so in the morning.

Habitat

Despite the status of the black-faced hawk as being a rare to uncommon bird, it is widespread north of the Amazon River. Its occurrence south of the Amazon is controversial due to possible confusion with "L. kuhli" which occurs there. However, the consensus on the range limits for "L. melanops" is from lowland Peru north of the Amazon and northeastern Ecuador to Venezuela, southern Colombia, Brazil north of the Amazon and the Guyanas.The black-faced hawk's preferred habitat is within the tall lowland forest of the Amazon. It may also reside amongst the forest edges, along rivers and mangroves.

Reproduction

Currently, no direct observations have been reported on the reproductive behaviour of the species. However, it is assumed that this behaviour will resemble that of most species within the genus "Leucopternis". Among this genus, raptors make a stick nest in the canopy of a tree and both parents share parental care by incubating the eggs for a period of five weeks.

Food

Very little information has been recorded on the diet of the black-faced hawk. Although it is assumed that the raptor must have a similar diet to that of the birds in its genus. snakes and other reptiles are the main prey of all "Leucopternis" species and hence possibly the main diet for the black-faced hawk as well.