Orange-breasted Falcon

How to find it

Realistically, a sighting here would be a surprise rather than a plan. If any remain, they may be in the little-birded Caribbean foothills of the Talamanca range near the Panama border. Much of that forest is primary and hard to reach. Scanning high dead snags and cliff edges is the best way to find one anywhere in its range. A survey in 1999 and 2000 checked nearly 400 cliffs and found none in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador or Costa Rica.

How to recognise it

This is a medium-sized falcon with a heavy bill. Adults show three marks together:

- a black head

- a white throat

- a broad orange-rufous band across the upper breast, wrapping up behind the ear area

Seen from far away, the powerful, stocky bird can look all black, and only the white throat and the orange band stand out. Costa Rican birders list coarser, wavier orange and white barring on the breast, no contrast between head and back, and a build more like a Peregrine. Against a Bat Falcon it has a bigger head and bill and much larger feet, though size alone is hard to judge on a lone bird.

Behaviour and diet

Across its range this falcon mostly hunts small to medium birds, especially doves, parakeets and swifts, and it catches all its prey in flight. It also takes large insects, and bats at dusk and before dawn. It usually hunts above the forest canopy, diving from a cliff or a dead treetop, or stooping from great height. The one Costa Rican report describes a falcon perched on a snag.

Where it lives

Costa Rica has few limestone cliffs. Its volcanic cliffs are mostly sloped and forest-covered, so they are probably poor nesting sites for this falcon. The single possible report comes from the Caribbean lowlands just north of Barbilla National Park. If any remain, they may be in the little-birded Caribbean foothills of the Talamanca range near the Panama border, where much of the forest is primary and hard to reach.

Similar birds

The Bat Falcon is much more common and looks very similar, so it is the bird to rule out first. A small male Orange-breasted and a large female Bat Falcon are especially confusing, but the Orange-breasted looks bulkier and shows a sharper contrast between white throat and orange upper breast, with coarser underpart barring. Juvenile Peregrine Falcons can also resemble juvenile Orange-breasted Falcons; on the Orange-breasted the ochre of the breast curves up in a crescent behind the ear area.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Halcón Pechirrufo is the Costa Rican Spanish name. Other countries use Halcón Pechinaranja, Halcón Pecho Canela and Halcón negro grande for the same bird.

Status and conservation

The AOCR status is R?, which is uncertain: Costa Rica has no photo or specimen record, and the government lists the species as endangered.

Photography tips

Scan high dead snags and cliff edges, where the bird perches or dives from. Because it hunts above the canopy, a wide view over forest helps. Check any falcon carefully against the Bat Falcon before celebrating.