Barred Hawk

How to find it

Listen first, then scan the sky above the ridge: it often soars high over forested ridges and canyons while calling loudly. Sunny days are best, when it soars, calls and displays. Guides watch for soaring raptors from the parking lot at Quebrada Gonzalez in Braulio Carrillo National Park during mid-morning, a spot that can turn up this hawk along with kites and other hawks. The Caribbean slope road through Cinchona and Varablanca is another raptor route. At a distance, rely on large size and the dark chest against paler underparts. A balcony over a forested ridge is a good place to wait, and one such lodge balcony is a regular spot for it.

How to recognise it

Adults have a dark slate head, back and chest. The rest of the underparts and underwings are white with fine dark bars. The dark chest against the white belly is the key mark.

It is a stocky, broad-winged hawk with a short, square tail. It is about 61 cm long and weighs about 1 kg. The tail is black with a white band, and the cere and legs are yellow.

Soaring high overhead, look for its large size and the contrast between the dark chest and the paler underparts. From a distance the finely barred white underparts can look a uniform gray, which is why the dark chest matters so much.

Behaviour and diet

Barred Hawks are usually solitary or in small groups. They often soar quite high on flat wings over forested ridges while calling loudly.

To hunt, the bird sits still and silent on a branch, then swoops to the ground or vegetation when it spots prey. It mostly takes slow-moving animals, inside the forest or along its edges. Reported prey includes frogs, snakes, large insects, small mammals and birds.

It nests high in a tree, apparently in a clump of epiphytes, and breeds in the dry season.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in the canopy or at the edges of foothill (premontane) and montane forest.

On the Caribbean slope it occurs along the whole slope. On the northern side that is about 400 to 1600 m, and on the southern side about 1000 to 2500 m. It sometimes flies over lower land or much higher.

On the Pacific slope, far from the continental divide, it is found only along the Talamanca range, mainly above 1500 m. One turned up eating a captured bird in a plaza at Las Catalinas, Guanacaste, an unusual visitor in that drier region.

When to see it

It is a year-round resident, not a seasonal migrant. One Costa Rica birding writer says it is commonly seen around Cinchona and Socorro from February to August.

Similar birds

Its soaring shape is much like a Black Vulture, so check for the barred white belly and listen for the call. Great Black Hawk and Common Black Hawk are mostly black with broad wings, short tails and yellow legs, but neither has the white barred belly. The plumage resembles the Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle of South America, though the two are unlikely to occur together.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans call it Gavilán Pechinegro. Other Spanish names for the species are Gavilán Príncipe and Busardo Azoreño, and in English it is also called Black-chested Hawk. Older field guides use the genus Leucopternis, while newer ones use Morphnarchus, which matters when comparing old and new books.

Status and conservation

The AOCR lists it as a resident (R), and the IUCN rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

It is best seen on sunny days, when it soars, calls and displays, so plan your watching for those hours. Mid-morning raptor watching from open viewpoints gives the best chance of a bird overhead.