- Buteogallus subtilis
Identification
43-53cm long and 930g. Broad wings, black with brownish cast to upper-wings. The short tail is black with a single broad white band and a white tip. The bill is black and the legs and cere are yellow.
Sexes are similar, but immature birds are dark brown above with spotting and streaks.
The call is a piping spink-speenk-speenk-spink-spink-spink.
Distribution
Mexico and Central America.
Taxonomy
Recently split from Common Black Hawk. Apparently distinguishable only by habitat and range. The Mangrove Black Hawk (Buteogallus subtilis) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the Common Black Hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus).
Habitat
Pacific mangrove swamps, estuaries and adjacent dry open woodland,
Behaviour
It builds a large stick nest in a mangrove tree, and usually lays one dark-blotched whitish egg.
Diet includes crabs, and small vertebrates and eggs.
