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Buckley's Forest Falcon | Micrastur buckleyi
Buckleys bosvalk | Halcón montés de Buckley | Falcão-de-buckley
Buckley's Forest Falcon is a smaller counterpart of Collared Forest Falcon, restricted to the lowland forests of western Amazonia. The two are very similar and the species was long overlooked. The call is the most reliable feature.
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Voice
A two-syllable, nasal call, kwa-aow, stressed on the second syllable, slowly repeated, mainly at dusk and dawn. Also a series of short, rising notes.
Recording: Kai Klawitter — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
41–46 cm, with short, rounded wings, a long tail and long legs. The adult is blackish above, with a white or buff collar around the neck, white to creamy underparts and a narrow dark crescent on the cheek. The secondaries have white spots or tips that form a pale row on the closed wing. The tail is black with three broad white bands and a white tip. Juveniles are buff below, with dark scaling or barring on the breast and flanks.
Confusion species
Collared Forest Falcon Micrastur semitorquatus is larger, lacks the white spots on the secondaries, has more and narrower white tail bands and a single-note, mournful call. Laughing Falcon Herpetotheres cachinnans has a broad black mask and perches in the open at forest edges. Slaty-backed Forest Falcon Micrastur mirandollei is grey above, without a pale collar.
Habitat
Tall humid lowland forest on terra firme and in várzea, also along forest edges and riverbanks, up to about 600 m. It hunts low to mid-level in the forest from a hidden perch, taking birds, small mammals and reptiles. Little is known about the nest; presumably in a tree hollow, as in related species.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia only in the south-east, with few records. In Ecuador in the Amazon basin. In Peru in the Amazon basin, mainly in the north, with scattered records further south to the south-east. In Bolivia at most a few reports from the far north. Outside the guide area in western Amazonian Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
At dusk and dawn listen from forest trails or a canopy tower in Amazonia for the two-syllable call; then approach carefully and search low, sheltered branches.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species lives in a large, still largely forested area, but is poorly known and locally affected by deforestation.
Scientific name
Micrastur buckleyi | Swann, 1919
Swann described the species in 1919 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Micrastur was introduced in 1841 by Gray. The genus name combines Greek mikros, 'small', with Astur, a genus name for goshawks. The species name honours Clarence Buckley (born 1832), British collector in Bolivia and Ecuador from 1868 to 1880. The specimen the first description was based on came from Sarayaku, Pastaza, Ecuador.