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Plumbeous Forest Falcon | Micrastur plumbeus
Sclaters bosvalk | Halcón montés plomizo | Falcão-plúmbeo
Plumbeous Forest Falcon is a small forest falcon restricted to the wet Chocó forests of western Colombia and north-western Ecuador. It closely resembles Barred Forest Falcon, but has a single white tail band. Clearance of lowland forest in the Chocó makes it vulnerable.
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Voice
A series of nasal, rising notes, kah, kah, kah, and a repeated, mournful kaaow; mainly at sunrise.
Recording: Raphaël Jordan — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
33–36 cm, with short, rounded wings, a long tail and long yellow legs. The adult is dark slate-grey above, with a grey head, throat and upper breast. The underparts are white with fine, dense black bars. The bare skin around the eye, the lores and the cere are bright orange. The tail is blackish with one narrow white band at mid-length and a narrow white tip. Juveniles are browner, with pale underparts with coarser or sparser barring.
Confusion species
Barred Forest Falcon Micrastur ruficollis, which occurs in the same area, has three or four white tail bands and a slightly paler face. Bicolored Hawk Astur bicolor is larger, with plain grey underparts and rufous thighs. Semicollared Hawk Microspizias collaris is smaller, with a shorter tail and a pale collar.
Habitat
Wet, tall lowland and foothill forest of the Chocó, from sea level to about 900 m, locally higher. It hunts low in the forest from a hidden perch, taking small birds, lizards and large insects. Little is known about the nest.
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 Pacific lowlands and foothills, from Chocó to Nariño. In Ecuador in the north-west, mainly in Esmeraldas and western Pichincha and Imbabura. Absent from Peru and Bolivia. Does not occur outside the guide area; there are a few uncertain reports from eastern Panama.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Search the lowland forests of Esmeraldas in north-western Ecuador or the Pacific lowlands of Colombia and listen at sunrise for the calling series. Count the white tail bands to separate it from Barred Forest Falcon.
Conservation status
Vulnerable (VU). Its small range in the Chocó is being cleared rapidly for logging, oil palm plantations, agriculture and mining.
Scientific name
Micrastur plumbeus | Sclater, 1918
Sclater described the species in 1918 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 is Latin plumbeus, 'lead-coloured'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Río Bogotá, Esmeraldas, Ecuador.