The barred hawk (''Morphnarchus princeps'') is a species of

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

in the family

Accipitridae The Accipitridae () is one of the four families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds of prey with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects ...

. It has also been known as the black-chested hawk. It is found in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

. 10,000 to 100,000 barred hawks are thought to exist throughout Central and South America. Barred hawks mainly live in the dense forests of the lowland and mountainous areas.

Taxonomy and evolution

Philip Sclater Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...

first classified the barred hawk in 1865. Barred hawks are in the family

that contains all the hawks, eagles, and old world vultures.Raposo do Amaral, Fabio S., Matthew J. Miller, Luis F. Silveira, Eldredge Bermingham, and Anita Wajntal. "Polyphyly of the hawk genera ''Leucopternis'' and ''Buteogallus'' (Aves, Accipitridae): multiple habitat shifts during the Neotropical buteonine diversification." BMC Evolutionary Biology 6 (2006). Recent research-using

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...

to analyze the phylogeny of this genus has been done. What researchers found was that the black and white plumage of genus ''Leucopternis'' has evolved at least twice, and the widespread occurrence of this plumage pattern may result from plumage convergence in forested habitats. In classical taxonomy, the black and white plumage pattern was overemphasized in the grouping of Leucopternis and plumage patterns alone may not be reliable taxonomic markers in this family. Studies suggest placing it in its own genus.

Description

The barred hawk appears black with a single white tail bar from above. The black barred and white belly and under-wing coverts contrast with the black throat, breast, and wing quills.Brown, Leslie and Amadon, Dean (1986) ''Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World''. The Wellfleet Press. . Barred hawks have a snout-like bill that makes them look like they have a heavy head. Despite being a fairly large hawk, of similar size to a large member of the ''

Buteo ''Buteo'' is a genus of medium to fairly large, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings. In the Old World, members of this genus are called " buzzards", but "hawk" is used in the New World (Etymology: ''Buteo'' is the Latin name ...

'' genus, its wing spread is relatively smaller than most related largish hawks, which allow them to maneuver through the thick forest canopy easier. Total length is from and wingspan is from . ''M. princeps'' weighs about The female barred hawk, showing

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

, is larger than the males. In wing chord length, males measure about and wing length is in females. They have very broad wings and short tail: wingspan is 2.2 times total length of the bird. The body of a barred hawk is dark grey with a white chest. On the chest are uniformly spaced black bars, which is where the hawk gets its name. The calls of ''M. princeps'' include high-pitched screaming or whistling, hoarse "whees", "yips", "dits", and "weeps".Slud, Paul. ''The Birds of Costa Rica''. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1964. Barred hawks are usually noisy when soaring in the sky.

Distribution and habitat

This species of hawk has a large Extent of Occurrence of 350,000 km². The barred hawks is primarily a Caribbean species of the middle altitudes, and are found in

, and

and on both sides of the Andes in northern

and western Columbia. Subtropical or tropical lowland and mountain forests are the natural habitat of the barred hawk. They live between in elevation and are most abundant in the elevation range.

Behavior

''Morphnarchus princeps'' hunts mostly in the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

and along mountain forests. The hunting technique of barred hawks contains both active and inactive activities. The hawks can be seen silently sitting on a branch looking for prey or habitually soaring noisily in the sky in a group of two or more. Barred hawks rarely leave the forest region to hunt but may hunt along the edges. They swiftly and quietly fly from branch to branch, when hunting within the forest. When perching they are usually at a mid to low height off the ground and are often on the hunt for slow prey such as

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

s, small

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s and

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s, and large

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. Of 104 prey items brought to a nest in

, 48% consisted of La Bonita caecilians and 35% were various

s. Further study supports the significance of

caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. They mostly live hidden in soil or in streambeds, and this cryptic lifestyle renders caecilians ...

s, largely subterranean and worm-like but potentially large (exceeding when taken)

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s, in this species' diet, especially when recent rainfall appears to draw the prey to the surface of the ground.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1270132 barred hawk Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama Birds of the Colombian Andes Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes barred hawk barred hawk Taxonomy articles created by Polbot