The plumbeous forest-falcon (''Micrastur plumbeus'') is a

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

Falconidae The falcons and caracaras are around 65 species of Diurnality, diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae (representing all extant species in the order (biology), order Falconiformes). The family likely originated in South America d ...

only found in the Chocó region 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 ...

and

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 ...

. This rare bird has not been often spotted, which makes its study complicated. For a long time, it was considered to be part of the lined forest-falcons but it now known to be a species of its own. It is currently considered a vulnerable species because of the precarity of its habitat that is threatened by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

Description

The adult plumbeous forest-falcon has a grey back and a grey head with very bright orange legs and face. Their breast is barred and paler than their back, and their belly is more whitish towards the tail. This raptor has a black tail with a white tip and a white band in the middle, going across the whole width. Their irides are dark brown. The individuals are 30-34 cm (13 in) long and females are bigger than males. As a matter of fact, females weigh 180-213g and males weigh 172-188g. Immature individuals look similar besides a whiter breast and beige-ish irides, clearer than in mature individuals. Forest-falcons usually have long tails and round wings, but the plumbeous forest-falcon has a shorter tail and long wings.

Taxonomy

For some time, it had been debated whether the plumbeous forest-falcon was a lined forest-falcon (''Micrastur gilvicollis'') or a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the latter because of their resemblance. As it turned out, these birds were two different species. Their territorial distributions are completely separate. ''M. plumbeus'' and ''M. ruficollis interstes'' live in the same environment but do not

interbreed In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different variety (botany), varieties, subspecies, species or genus, genera through sexual reproduction. Generally, it means that each cell has gene ...

, or even interfere with each other. They are

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

and syntonic. The plumbeous forest-falcon differentiated about 3 million years ago after the split between trans- and cis-Andean South American populations. The closure of the Panama seaway, due to a drier and cooler climate linked to the formation of

ice sheets In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet. Ice sheets ...

at higher latitudes, may have highly contributed to the isolation of the plumbeous forest-falcon. Forest-falcons are part of the sub-family Herpetotherinae. This clade's and

Polyborinae Caracaras are birds of prey in the family Falconidae. They are traditionally placed in subfamily Polyborinae with the forest falcons, but are sometimes considered to constitute their own subfamily, Caracarinae, or classified as members of th ...

's species are usually found in forests and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

Habitat and Distribution

The plumbeous forest-falcon is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the south of the Chocó region in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. This region extends in the south-west of Colombia and the north-west of Ecuador. This bird lives all-year long in forest lowlands and

foothill Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

forests; it is not a

migratory bird Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. Th ...

. The elevation of its habitat varies from the

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

to approximately 1500m of altitude. One research project studying a few pairs of this species found that their

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

extended over 35-40 ha.

Conservation status

This species has been classified as vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

because of

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. Deforestation is touching more territories and the plumbeous forest-falcon's habitat is being destructed. It is an unprotected species that needs to be studied more extensively to help its conservation. Efforts should be focused on the Chocó area where this organism is solely contained.

Behavior

Vocalizations

Two main types of vocalizations are known for this bird. They produce some yapping ''kew'' notes every 1.5 - 2.5s, as well as series of ''cah cah cah-cah-cah'' that may be sung by pairs. Three types of calls and

songs A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...

are known for the forest falcons. The most common one is the "territorial advising song". The plumbeous forest-falcon repeat series of five notes to claim his territory. Furthermore, the "excited cackling call" and the "quacking song" are also heard from ''

Micrastur Forest falcons are members of the genus ''Micrastur'', part of the family Falconidae. They are endemic to the Americas, found from Mexico in the north, south through Central America and large parts of South America, and as far south as northern A ...

'' species, even though less often then the first call. Two members of the same species sometimes sing in a pair.

Diet

Due to the lack of study, the diet of this forest-falcon is not perfectly known. However, it is most probable that it is an

opportunistic 300px, ''Opportunity Seized, Opportunity Missed'', engraving by Theodoor Galle, 1605 Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances — with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opport ...

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

feeding on small

vertebrates Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

and large

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

. Land

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax. Their exoskeleton is often thickened and ha ...

birds 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 ...

and

lizards Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The ...

were found in the digestive system of a few individuals. Its main source of food is thought to be lizards. Moreover, this family of birds prey on forest-dwelling birds and

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

. They have two principal ways to forage. With the first one, they remain on the ground while running after the prey that they eventually catch with their feet. They keep their tail high when they chase the prey. The second technique consists of being perched about 2m above the ground, looking for sounds and movements in the

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

and then jumping on the detected prey.

Reproduction

The plumbeous forest-falcon's

reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: Asexual reproduction, asexual and Sexual ...

is not really known but it probably sets up its nests in tree cavities. As a matter of fact, other members of the ''Micrastur'' family that have been more studied, such as the collared forest-falcon and the barred forest-falcon, nest in trees.

References

External links

Photo of the plumbeous forest-falcon on eBird

Songs and calls of the plumbeous forest-falcon on xeno-canto
{{Taxonbar, from=Q747469 plumbeous forest falcon Birds of El Chocó plumbeous forest falcon plumbeous forest falcon Taxonomy articles created by Polbot