Help needed - ID Raptor from Colombia (1 Viewer)

Attached is a photo that I took some time ago of a raptor that I have not been able to ID. Photo was taken in Bogota, Colombia (elevation 9,600 feet) in a Eucalyptus tree outside of my apartment window (7th floor). I had seen him several times and he always gave the other birds a real fright so I think it may be an accipiter.

Any help in ID'ing it would be appreciated.
Thanks,

Dave B Smith said:

Attached is a photo that I took some time ago of a raptor that I have not been able to ID. Photo was taken in Bogota, Colombia (elevation 9,600 feet) in a Eucalyptus tree outside of my apartment window (7th floor). I had seen him several times and he always gave the other birds a real fright so I think it may be an accipiter.

Any help in ID'ing it would be appreciated.
Thanks,

Click to expand...

My first impression was sharp-shinned hawk because, aside from the large yellow eye-ring, it's a dead ringer for the sharpie who patrols my yard. Which is at 7,000 ft. in a mixed conifer forest in NE Arizona. Not that that helps with *your* bird, and I don't even know whether sharp-shinneds occur in Colombia. But a very nice photo, in any case!

Hi
Looks like a Sharpie to me, and Sharp-shinned do occur in Columbia, the race Accipiter striatus ventralis. hope this helps.

trev said:

Hi
Looks like a Sharpie to me, and Sharp-shinned do occur in Columbia, the race Accipiter striatus ventralis. hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Now split as Plain-breasted Hawk Accipiter ventralis.

Michael

Thanks to all,
Dave

I can't see rufous thighs on this bird, typical in Plain-breasted Hawk. Maybe it's the picture or maybe it's a wintering Sharp-shinned. Do you remember the date the picture was taken?

I was wondering about the whitish thighs as well - trouble is, Sharp-shin is also rufous there.

Checking in Lynx HBW, none of the South American Accipiter species have the combination of rufous breast and pale thighs, but HBW doesn't illustrate juveniles or subadults - perhaps the pale thighs are a retained juvenile feature on a subadult??

Michael

Looks like a Sharp-shin

check Birds of Colombia - possibly the best field guide ever written

Motmot,
Sorry I can't remember the date and I couldn't find my old notes. It was a fairly regular visitor but I do think it was seasonal, not year round.

Tim,
Wish I had known about 'Birds of Colombia' when I was there. I never did find a good guide and had lots of birds I never ID'd. I don't have access to it now either but will probably get it in the future.

Katy,
I had checked my US Peterson guide, my Mexico guide and my Costa Rica guide and had ruled out Sharp-shinned because of the yellow eye ring. None of the guides showed this. Now, I really don't know my raptors and have no idea how much they vary and whether any SS might have this eye ring. But see edit below, I think you were right on target with your ID, and as you note, the eye ring was what was bothering me also.

EDIT: Trev and Michael, thanks for the info on the race / specie split in Colombia. I just did a Google search on Plain-breasted Hawk and the one image that came up had the eye ring just like mine.

Sorry to come in so late on this thread, but I am interested in getting as much information on the Plain-breasted Hawk as I can, as I am currently studying the closely related White-breasted Hawk, which is often lumped, along with Plain-breasted Hawk and the southern form Rufous-thighed Hawk, as a race of Sharp-shinned Hawk. I noticed recently that another excellent photo of this species was posted on bird forum. There seems to be almost nothing published on this species other than in field guides and I am very interested in getting anything that is available, including anecdotal information. My only personal experience with this species/subspecies is two brief views in Ecuador.
What I am most after is a DNA sample. I am in contact with a researcher in Brazil who is studying Rufous-thighed Hawks and I can get some samples of my birds, so with some Plain-breasted hawk samples we might be able to sort out this problem once and for all.

Michael Frankis said:

Now split as Plain-breasted Hawk Accipiter ventralis.

Michael

Click to expand...

Michael, do you know who has made this split? To my knowledge the AOU still lump them with sharp-shin, though many authors of field guides and Sibley and Monroe treat them as distinct species.

I include a photo of some skins from the British Museum collection at Tring, which shows the wide variation in the markings of this species.
Tom