All species › Birds of prey › Kites, Old World vultures, eagles and hawks › Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle
Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle | Geranoaetus melanoleucus
Grijze arendbuizerd | Águila pechinegra | Águia-serrana
The Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle is the large raptor of the open high Andes, a buzzard with the build of an eagle. In flight it is unmistakable with its broad wings and very short, wedge-shaped tail, which give it a triangular silhouette. It is fairly common throughout the Andes over páramo, puna and canyons.
Voice
Usually silent. At the nest and when disturbed a loud, laughing cackle.
Recording: John V. Moore — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
62–76 cm; the female is larger than the male. The adult is dark slate grey above and on the head and breast, with pale grey wing coverts forming a silvery panel on the wing. The belly and underwing coverts are white with fine dark barring. The tail is short, wedge-shaped and dark. In flight the white underparts contrast with the dark breast and dark flight feathers. Juveniles are brown above and buff to tawny below with dark streaks and spots, and have a longer tail; adult plumage is reached only after several years, through intermediate plumages.
Confusion species
Variable Hawk Geranoaetus polyosoma is smaller and has a longer white tail with a black terminal band; females have a rufous back. White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus has a white tail with a black band and rufous shoulders, and lives mainly lower down. Juveniles are often confused with juvenile Variable Hawks; then concentrate on the silhouette with broad wings and short tail. Black-and-chestnut Eagle Spizaetus isidori lives in montane forest and has a longer tail.
Habitat
Open, rocky country in the high Andes: páramo, jalca, puna, steep mountain slopes with grassland and scrub, cliffs and canyons, and fields and pastures in the mountains. Mainly between about 2000 and 4500 m, locally lower. It soars for long periods along slopes and ridges and often hangs almost motionless in the updraft. It hunts medium-sized mammals such as cavies and viscachas, birds and reptiles, and also takes carrion. The nest is on a ledge in a cliff or in a tree.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in the Andes, locally. In Ecuador in the highlands along the whole Andes. In Peru throughout the Andes, on both slopes and in the dry valleys. In Bolivia in the Andes and on the altiplano. Outside the guide area in the Andes of Venezuela, and south through Chile and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego, with a separate population in south-eastern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Search open mountain slopes and canyons on a sunny morning, when birds soar along the ridges or hang still in the wind. The triangular silhouette can be recognised even at great distance and without colours.
Conservation status
Least Concern. Widespread and fairly common in the open high Andes, though locally persecuted by livestock farmers.
Scientific name
Geranoaetus melanoleucus | (Vieillot, 1819)
Vieillot described the species in 1819 as Spizaetus melanoleucus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Geranoaetus was introduced in 1844 by Kaup. The genus name comes from Greek geranos, 'crane', and aetos, 'eagle'. The species name comes from Greek melas, 'black', and leukos, 'white'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Paraguay.