Accipiter poliogaster

The grey-bellied hawk or grey-bellied goshawk is a fairly large and rare species of forest-dwelling South American bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Dutch naturalist Coenraad Jacob Temminck described the grey-bellied hawk in 1824. This medium-sized hawk measures 38–51 cm in body length, with females being considerably larger (by about 40%) than males. Other body measurements in the male have been recorded as 232–270mm flat wing length, 165–187mm tail length, 18–21mm bill length from culmen to cere and tarsus length of 50–55mm;. Corresponding measurements in the female are 263–283mm flat wing length, 181–207mm tail length, 20–22mm bill length from culmen to cere and 53–60mm tarsus length. The hawk's basic plumage is coloured black or dark grey above and contrasting white or grey on the throat and body underside below. As the common name suggests, the belly is pale grey. The head is black or very dark grey overall and extends halfway down the throat before suddenly becoming white, so as to give a “hooded” or “capped” appearance. In males, the crown is darker than the rest of the head, whereas the plumage on the back and head of the female is uniformly dark. White feathers on the nape are exposed and appear as white spots across the hindneck. The tail is black or grey with three wide light grey horizontal bands on top and a narrow white tip. The wings, legs and tail have been described as being relatively short for the body size, with a heavy bill and head. The feet, legs, cere and orbital skin are yellow and the bill is black with a bluish grey base. The iris has been reported as yellow or red. Females are reported to have darker grey and the males light grey cheeks. The plumage of juveniles has been said to resemble that of the ornate hawk eagle and have even previously considered a separate species (A. pectoralis). In the field, the grey-bellied hawk is similar in size and shape to the collared forest falcon and slaty-backed forest falcon and is therefore often confused with these two other species, both of which however differ markedly from the grey-bellied hawk in colouration. This hawk is most often seen soaring over forests and utters a cackling kek-kek-kek-kek-kek-kek that trails off the end. Average lifespan is estimated at 7.2 years. This hawk has a wide but patchy distribution in tropical lowland evergreen forests of South America at elevations of 250-500m a.s.l. It occurs in northern and eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, the two Guyanas, Suriname, eastern Ecuador, central and eastern Peru, Amazonian Brazil, northern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and northeast Argentina. In Ecuador, its occurrence is patchy and has been observed only in pristine forest habitats. In French Guyana, it has been observed in the lower canopy of both primary and recently logged forests. The hawk is also said to occur accidentally in Costa Rica, with the first adult being observed here in 2014 after reports of only juveniles. It may be expanding its range into Costa Rica with the increase in human-disturbed land, which this hawk appears to tolerate as a nesting habitat. Alongside rainforest, this hawk is also found in patches of riparian forest, other dense woodland and sometimes in secondary forest. The total area of its occurrence is estimated at 7490000 km^2. Despite its large range, it appears to occur only locally and is generally rare.