Black Hawk-Eagle

How to find it

Listen for its high whistle and scan the sky, because it soars in mid-morning. Do not look only upward: check mid-story perches at forest edges and openings too. At Quebrada Gonzalez in Braulio Carrillo National Park, a raptor guide suggests watching from the parking lot in mid-morning, and two hours of scanning there often turns up a Black Hawk-Eagle. A balcony with a wide view over a forested ridge also suits raptor watching, and at El Copal the species is listed as a regular sight from one. Carara National Park and the area around it is a consistently good place for raptors, and the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado offer a fair chance at all three hawk-eagles. Seeing one is never guaranteed.

How to recognise it

Look for an all-black raptor with a short, bushy crest. The crest feathers are black with white bases, a detail you will rarely see from far away.

The eye is yellow, and a white line sits just above it. The legs are feathered and barred with white, and the talons are thick and yellow. The tail is long with pale bands, with a few white bars showing.

It measures roughly 58 to 70 cm across its range. In flight the wings look broad and short, and the tail is usually held closed.

Young birds look quite different: white head and breast with dusky streaks, and underparts barred black and white. They need two to three years to reach full adult plumage, so a pale, streaky bird can still be this species.

What it sounds like

Recording: Tommy Andriollo, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a hunter of mammals, birds and reptiles, working mostly from trees and spotting prey from a favourite perch. It scans briefly, then makes a short hop to another branch at mid-story height.

It also spends much time soaring over the forest canopy or open areas, calling loudly. Calling often goes with high circling flights from mid-morning into early afternoon.

The nest is made of sticks and is well hidden in the canopy, often held up by branches and vines. Pairs usually nest only once every two or three years.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in broken, fragmented forest, partly open areas and forest edges. Across its range it lives in lowland and mid-elevation tropical forest.

An article citing the Ornithological Association says it is most frequent in humid zones at 200 to 2,000 m. Most records come from mountain slopes near the Caribbean coast in Limón, the south Pacific in Puntarenas, and the mountains along the Nicaragua and Panama borders. The regional range also includes the Pacific slope of Costa Rica.

When to see it

It soars in mid-morning, and calling often goes with high circling flights from mid-morning into early afternoon.

Similar birds

The two other Costa Rican hawk-eagles are the Ornate, Aguilillo Penachudo, and the Black-and-white, Aguilillo Blanco y Negro. Both are residents like the Black Hawk-Eagle. Great Black Hawk is a much larger black raptor that could be confused with it, and Slate-colored Hawk and Slender-billed Kite are other black raptors to rule out.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The AOCR Spanish name is Aguilillo Negro, with Aguilucho as the alternate name, and a local Costa Rican article uses Aguilucho Negro. A Costa Rican news piece also calls it Águila Tirana, meaning tyrant eagle.

Status and conservation

The AOCR official list gives it resident status in Costa Rica, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though the population is thought to be declining from habitat loss.

Photography tips

Look for mid-story perches in forest edges and openings, not only the sky. A hunting bird scans briefly before a short hop to another branch, so a patient wait at an open edge can pay off.