#accipitrimorph

By Koshy Koshy, CC BY 2.0 

Etymology: A Childish Trickster

First Described By: Savigny, 1809

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Accipitrimorphae, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae, Gypaetinae

Status: Extant, Endangered

Time and Place: Since 12,000 years ago, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

Egyptian Vultures are known from locations across India, Western Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe 

Physical Description: The Egyptian Vulture is a small vulture, only about 54 to 70 centimeters long with a wingspan of a little more than twice that size. It is also very distinctive in color, and extremely fluffy (which makes sense, given it is probably closely related to the Bearded Vulture). It has a very long and narrow head, which is bare and yellow over the eyes and beak; the tip of the beak is sharply hooked and black. The back of the head and neck is very fluffy and white. The rest of the body is also very puffed, mostly white but with black edges and tips to the wing feathers and tail feathers. It has white fluffy legs, with only some of the feet bear; the feet are pale in color. The females are usually much heavier than the males. The juveniles are significantly darker than the adults in color. 

By Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Diet: Egyptian Vultures primarily feed on large dead animals such as carrion of birds, livestock, wild mammals, and even dogs. Usually it will prefer scraps from large carcasses. Sometimes it will also eat eggs! 

By Вых Пыхманн, CC By-SA 3.0 

Behavior: These vultures are pragmatic opportunists, eating a wide variety of carrion that are often rejected by other vulture. It even competes often with crows and other corvids - more pragmatic, intelligent birds! These vultures spend a lot of the day soaring overhead, searching for food from up to one kilometer away; they also will perch and search for food on trees and cliffs. They tend to congregate in large numbers where there is good sources of food - even though this bird is rare. They will pull off chunks of carcass and often will throw stones at eggs to open them up - a documented use of tools! They also will use twigs to roll up and gather strands of wool for nest-lining. They aren’t very loud birds, making small whistles, grunts, groans, and hisses when needed. Somewhat social birds, they are usually found in pairs or in large groups around carcasses, though often they spend time alone. 

By Jiel, CC BY-SA 4.0 

Egyptian Vultures breed in the spring, with pairs courting by soaring high together and then swooping and spiraling down. They are monogamous for at least one breeding season, and may stay with the same mate for many years or even their whole lives. They tend to come back to the same nest sites year after year. They make nests out of twigs and wool, placed on cliff ledges and on large tree forks. Neighboring birds may form polyamorous groups with a mated pair, allowing for the two pairs of adults to aid each other in caring for the young. Usually the birds prepare for copulation by giving each other food, and preening each other to get in the “mood”. They lay around two eggs usually, which are incubated for around one and a half months. All adults will incubate the chicks, which are very brown and puffy. They stay in the nest for up to three months, cared for by the parents for most of that time. They reach sexual maturity between 4 and 6 years of age, and can live for nearly four decades, though most tend to die by the fifth year of life in the wild. 

By PJeganathan, CC BY-SA 4.0 

The vultures tend to soar on thermal wind, using the heat to raise themselves higher in the air; on the land they’re much less graceful, waddling around awkwardly. They are very calculating animals, waiting for predators to leave a carcass before approaching. They’ll even feed on poop to get carotenoids - pigments - from large herbivorous mammals. They tend to migrate only in the northern part of their range - in Africa and India, they stay mainly in the same location year-round. They glide extensively while flying, wasting as little energy while migrating as possible. 

By Dr. Raju Kasambe, CC BY-SA 4.0 

Ecosystem: Egyptian Vultures prefer open areas, preferably ones with dry and arid habitat. They especially prefer locations near cold and wet climates, such as scrub habitats. They also frequent deserts, steppes, pastures, and some fields, though they try to stay near rocky places when nesting. They also can be found in mountainous regions at lower or mid-level altitudes. They are hunted upon by golden eagles, eagle owls, and red foxes as young; they also are very vulnerable to other mammalian predators (like wolves) as adults and to human interference. In fact, human activity takes a toll on population size. 

By Tomasz Baranowski, CC BY 2.0 

Other: Egyptian Vultures have gone through extensive population decline, though in some locations the population is more stable now and recovering. They are greatly affected by human activity, including things such as power lines and hunting, intentional poisoning, and superstition-based activity. Since vultures are considered harbingers of doom, people tend to be afraid of them - and they aren’t always the prettiest birds, so people don’t feel emotional attachment to them enough to avoid killing them. Declines in herding and livestock maintenance among humans also has lead to some population decline. Combinations of these factors in many countries make conservation efforts difficult to implement. Some attempts to preserve this vulture have included “vulture restaurants”, where carcasses are made available to vultures nearby.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

By Lip Kee, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Etymology: Small Sparrowhawk

First Described By: Gray, 1840

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Accipitrimorphae, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae, Melieraxinae

Status: Extant, Least Concern

Time and Place: 10,000 years ago, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

The Gabar Goshawk is known from most of sub-Saharan Africa, apart from the densest rainforest 

Physical Description: Gabar Goshawks are small birds of prey, coming in two main morphs of colors - some are dark all over, with dark banding on their tails; while others are grey, with that same dark banding on its tail. The females are larger than the males, and they range between 28 and 36 centimeters long. Their feet have long claws and are orange, and they have short, curved beaks that are orange with black tips. So, in a lot of ways, they are somewhat Halloween themed birds of prey! The sexes tend to look the same. They also have white patches on their wings, most of the time. The juveniles tend to be brown, with streaks across their chests.

Diet: Gabar Goshawks feed mainly on other birds! Primarily, small birds such as guineafowl, coucals, and francolins. They also eat small reptiles and some small mammals - including bats! 

By Bernard DuPont, CC By-SA 2.0 

Behavior: The Gabar Goshawks will spend a decent amount of time actively pursuing prey, diving through the air to catch the flighted animals after which it chases. It will sometimes also wait in trees, or go into nests in order to get food - taking dozens of animals from sites at a time and bringing them back to their nests. It will hunt mainly in places of cover, sometimes in pairs, and sometimes with the help of falcons. They’ll tear into nests, grabbing whatever they can to devour the food inside. They are fairly silent birds, only making piping noises from perches when displaying to each other. These piping calls will also be made when feeding young - and when the young are asking for food.

Gabar Goshawks don’t migrate, but they do tend to move locally based on the dry season, and juveniles are a little nomadic and move in response to food. They tend to lay eggs at the end of the dry season, sometimes even breeding twice a year. The couple will do circles in the air around each other, and call to each other as a part of their mating rituals. They build nests together out of sticks in thorny trees, using earth and rootlets to bind the nest together. These nests are usually quite high off of the ground, and they’ll even have intentional spiderwebs on top to conceal the eggs. Two eggs are usually laid, and incubated for a little more than a month by the female; the male will help bring her food. The chicks are very white and fluffy, growing less and less white as they age. They fledge after another month or so, and tend to become more independent at that point. 

By Lip Kee, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Ecosystem: As indicated by their distribution, Gabar Goshawks live primarily in open thorn savannah and in some more open woodland habitats. They are preyed upon by tawny eagles, Wahlberg’s Eagle, and Ayres’ Hawk-Eagle.

Other: Thankfully, Gabar Goshawks are not threatened with extinction. They are common and widespread in a grand variety of habitats. Their range is even expanding, and in recent years they’ve been found in new locations outside of their natural range. There are some places where they are scarce, but by and large they are very common. They are brave birds, colonizing urban areas, though they are sometimes hunted by people due to being perceived as a threat (though they’re too small to be a problem for poultry!)

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

By Ikiwaner, GFDL 1.2

Etymology: Archer

First Described By: Hermann, 1783

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Accipitrimorphae, Accipitriformes, Sagittariidae

Status: Extant, Vulnerable

Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

The Secretarybird is known from a variety of arid (re: non-dense tropical rainforests) across sub-Saharan Africa 

Physical Description: Secretarybirds are among the most visually distinctive of living dinosaurs, and one of the species usually pointed to by people attempting to prove the dinosaur nature of birds via visual evidence. These are large raptors, with extremely long and thin legs like those of storks. They have sharp talons on their feet, and they are truly living the “Velociraptor is my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great auntie and I’m here to kick your ass” life. 

They still have the ability to fly, with large wings and elongated bodies - including long, stiffened tail feathers just to add to the whole “wait if I squint maybe it has a bony tail like a Velociraptor” appearance it has going on. It has a medium-length neck, with a small head and a distinctive crest of thin feathers off the back of its head. It also has a downward-curved, sharp beak. 

By Lip Kee Yap, CC BY-SA 2.0 

In terms of color, the Secretarybirds have orange patches over their eyes, and mainly white heads besides; the ends of their crest feathers are black. Their leg feathers are black too, as are some of their rump feathers, the tips of their wings, their backs, and the ends of their tails. The males and females look roughly the same, with the females somewhat smaller than the males. In general, they range between 125 and 150 centimeters in length. Juveniles are very similar to the adults, but with shorter crests and tails. In short, these are raptors that aren’t actually mistaken for other raptors - but might be mistaken for cranes!

The Secretarybird is interesting on the inside as well - it has a very short digestive tract, and a foregut highly specialized for digesting large quantities of meat very quickly. They don’t have a muscular gizzard like other birds, and they don’t have any fermentation agents since they don’t eat plants at all! 

By Biran Ralphs, CC BY 2.0 

Diet: Though it can fly, the Secretarybird does the entirety of its hunting on the ground, stalking through the grass to catch a variety of meat prey including mammals as big as mongooses, lizards, snakes, tortoises, other birds, eggs, crabs, and insects. They do kill even bigger mammals like young gazelles and cheetah cubs. In short, they’re making their ancestors proud.

Behavior: Secretarybirds have a lot of very distinctive behaviors that make them iconic, bird-wise, among the masses. Most especially, they engage in very fast kicking with their long legs in order to grab prey - evoking images of dinosaurs gone by. These kicks are fast, powerful, and terrifying - and then on top of that insanity, they swallow their food whole with their large, gaping beaks! To get their food out of hiding, they even stomp incessantly on the ground in order to flush it out. They usually only tear up their food with their toes while holding it down, not bothering to chop it up with their beaks. Sometimes they’ll even jump down onto food, using a little bit of raptor-prey-restraint or lift with their wings to get the jump on their prey. These birds usually hunt alone, or with their mate nearby. 

These birds do not migrate much, but they can be nomadic in response to rainfall and fires. The juveniles especially travel far in search of areas unoccupied by mated pairs. They make high pitched, “ko-ko-ko-ko-ko-ka” calls to one another, in addition to more “kowaaaaaaa kowaaaaaaaa” and “kurrk-urr-kurrk-urr” calls back and forth. They aren’t actually that good at running, despite their long legs - they instead are really only good for the stomp-strike they use for hunting. 

By Donald Macauley, CC BY-SA 2.0 

These birds form monogamous pairs, that stay together for most of their lives. They have an elaborate courtship display for one another that involves soaring high and flying in an undulated fashion around each other, and croaking at each other. Sometimes they also will court each other on the ground, chasing each other with their wings up like how they chase prey. They will nest any time of the year, usually corresponding to abundance of food. They especially raise chicks in the rainy system. Their nests are made fairly high up in Acacia trees, made out of sticks with dense grass and wool lining, usually made in the shape of a saucer. THey lay between 1 and 3 eggs in a nest, which are incubated by both parents for about a month and a half. The chicks are pale grey and fluffy with short, straight bills; they moult twice before reaching a juvenile plumage at six weeks. They are dependent on their parents for over three months; their parents will eat insects and then regurgitate them back into the young’s mouths. The parents teach their young how to hunt extensively, in order for them to be independent by the end of their rearing period. 

By Kore, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Ecosystem: Secretarybirds live in steppes and savanna, especially enjoying short grasses with scattered trees for roosting and nesting. They rarely go anywhere with more trees. They can be found at a variety of elevations. Here they live with a wide variety of animals, especially venomous snakes, which they are famous for eating. However, their own young are fed upon by crows, ravens, hornbills, kites, and owls.

Other: Secretarybirds are considered vulnerable to extinction, mainly due to extensive habitat loss and rising CO2 levels. These birds are still widespread across Africa and are becoming adapted to more arid, desert-like habitats, but despite this common nature of the species they are still listed as vulnerable due to a recent rapid decline across the entirety of their range. They are a very revered bird in Africa, used as the emblem of Sudan and a motif on postage stamps - though they are also called the Devil’s Horse! 

By Yoky, CC BY-SA 3.0 

As to the peculiar name, some think it is because the crest feathers look like quill feathers for a pen, leading to the association with a secretary - but this hypothesis has fallen out of favor. Some may think it is a mishearing of the French “Saqr-et-tair”, aka, hunter bird. Either way, the quills also look like a quiver of arrows - and it is a skilled hunter - leading to its genus name being Sagittarius, aka, Archer!

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

By Steve Garvie, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Etymology: Vulture

First Described By: Kaup, 1828

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Accipitrimorphae, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae

Status: Extant, Endangered

Time and Place: In the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

The Lappet-Faced Vulture is known from arid locations around Africa and the Arabian Peninsula 

Physical Description: Lappet-Faced Vultures are fairly typical looking vultures, and ginormous birds too - ranging up to 115 centimeters in body length, with 280 centimeter long wingspans. They are brown all over their backs and wings with white bellies and legs, and they have naked heads (as many vultures do). This distinctive contrast in feather color makes the Lappet-Faced Vulture fairly easy to spot! These heads can be pink or brown, depending on the sub-population. They have bulky, sharp clawed feet, and very large hooked beaks. The juveniles are also brown, and still have some feathery down on their heads unlike the bare-headed adults.

Diet: These vultures - like most vultures - eat primarily carrion, including both large and small carcasses. They do occasionally hunt for their own food, but more than that they’ll take fresh food caught by other raptors like eagles. 

By Chris Eason, CC BY 2.09 

Behavior: These birds will make groups of large numbers of vultures, of multiple species, gathering at carcasses or sources of food, pulling off food from the carcass including the skin and bones. They will soar low and slowly over wide areas while looking for food, able to cover large distances with low energy through their large and broad wings. They have poor senses of smell, unlike other vultures, and so mainly rely on hearing and sight in order to find carcasses. They do interact with each other while feeding, fighting and arguing over carcasses - but other than that, the Lappet-Faced Vulture tends to stay silent and solitary while on the move, only making some hisses and chattering while at carcasses and at the nest. They only migrate due to the changing in rain and dry season, though they do have very large territories in which they search for food. 

By Dominic Sherony, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Unlike other vultures, the Lappet-Faced vulture does not partake in communal roosts. Instead, they nest alone, though pairs can clump a little within an area with suitable nesting sites. They make a platform of sticks, lined with dry grass, placed on exposed trees like the Acacia trees. They lay their eggs usually in the dry season, laying only one egg per nest that incubates for nearly two months of time. The chicks are then fluffy and white, becoming grey after moulting, and fledge after more than four months. The parents will take care of the young together, even though the young are dependent on the parents for such a long time. The young will stay near the parents for an entire year before going out on their own, and they are not sexually mature until six years of age. It is uncertain if the adults form lifelong pair bonds, or just seasonal pair bonds.

Ecosystem: Lappet-Faced Vultures live in steppe and desert habitats, and do verge into open savanna and arid plains. They are occasionally found in mountain slopes as well, and along the edges of forests. They have no major predators other than humans, but have been known to be the victims of nest parasitism. 

By Yathin sk, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Other: Lappet-Faced Vultures have a very small and rapidly declining population, entirely threatened due to human activity. They are scattered across huge, disconnected ranges, with low density in each range. Habitat disturbance, human cultivation, nesting site disturbance, pesticides, and hunting all threaten these populations - humans tend to kill these birds without question and without qualm. They were only listed as vulnerable recently, too, and the plight of the Lappet-Faced Vulture only recently made news on a global scale. They tend to be killed and chased off from cattle carcasses, for example, even though they rely on them for food. On estimation, there are probably less than 9,000 of these beautiful birds left in the world - but, because they’re “ugly vultures”, no one seems to care. Legislation over pesticides is ongoing, and there are breeding programs active in Israel, but there is very little research or ongoing programs to protect these wonderful birds.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

Hook-Billed Kite by Hector Bottai, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Etymology: Coarse Hawk

First Described By: Lesson, 1843

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Accipitrimorphae, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae, 

Referred Species: C. uncinatus (Hook-Billed Kite), C. wilsonii (Cuban Kite) 

Status: Extant, Critically Endangered - Least Concern 

Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

The Hook-billed Kites are known from Cuba, Central, and South America, primarily in more humid habitats such as the Amazon basin 

Physical Description: These kites range from 38 to 51 centimeters in length, making them fairly large for flighted birds (but not the largest amongst birds of prey by any means, in that respect they’re middle-of-the-road). They are named for their most distinctive feature - a large, heavy, hooked bill. This bill goes well over the underbill, though it varies extensively across individuals in this genus. The birds have strong feet with sharply curved claws, and somewhat short tails. Their wings are ovular in shape, and interestingly enough the females have more interesting color schemes than the males - while all have grey heads with yellow eye patches, the females have brown backs and reddish-brown stripes across their white bellies, while males continue to be grey, with grey stripes. Some morphs of this genus are very dark in color all over. The juveniles are typically dark brown on top and white underneath, with very few stripes. 

Diet: These birds feed primarily on tree snails, interestingly enough, which they break apart with their strong beaks. They also will eat some reptiles, frogs, salamanders, craps, and insects, depending on where they live and the food available in that local. 

Hook-Billed Kite by Cláudio Dias Timm

Behavior: These are fairly sluggish raptors, all things considered, spending most of their time in the leafy canopy when not flying around. They do fly extensively, though, and are often seen soaring above the rainforest. They will fly until they find a suitable patch of rainforest, go down into the undergrowth, find a snail in its shell, and break the inner whorls of the shell by cracking it with its beak towards the apex of the spire. It will also swallow some smaller snails whole. It will also sit in a perch in the lower canopy to look for snails, or hop between trees. It usually hunts throughout the day, especially during the nesting season. Fairly silent birds, they only tend to make musical chuckling calls to their mate while perched and flying together. They will also make shrill alarm screams in response to danger, and chattering noises to their babies. 

When it comes to breeding, they tend to breed whenever the rainy season starts, based on their individual locations. The two birds will circle each other in courtship, low above the canopy, making those noticeable laughing calls. They then build a flimsy stick nest together, between five and seven meters up in the trees or close to the top of the trees - usually precariously placed on thin branches away from the trunk. They lay up to three eggs, usually two, which are incubated for a little over a month. The male will bring food to the female while she incubates, but when the eggs hatch both parents will feed the young. The chicks then fledge in the early to middle rainy season to take advantage of more plentiful snails. These birds are fairly nomadic - with no distinct migratory pattern, they will move in response to availability of food. 

Hook-Billed Kites by Mike Ostrowski, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Ecosystem: Hook-Billed Kites will live primarily in rainforests, especially in lower canopies and dense understory, as well as in more temperate zones in the Andes mountains. They can also be found in forest edges and clearings, and while they can get up to higher elevations in the Amazon, they are found in lower elevations in more northern locals. The Cuban Kite will be found in more montane gallery forest with extremely tall trees. The young tend to be preyed upon by jays, but the adults don’t have many predators. 

Other: These birds are usually very common, but the Cuban species is very much threatened with extinction due to a limited habitat and excessive human hunting. The mainland species may be rarer in some regions, but overall very common and extending its range northward in response to climate change. 

Species Differences: The Hook-Billed Kites, as opposed to the Cuban Kites, have dark bills with only slight yellow patches on the lower bill. Meanwhile, the beaks of Cuban Kites are entirely yellow. The Cuban Kite has a much more limited range (in Cuba only), while Hook-Billed Kites are found all over Central and South America. This limited range, in addition to persecution by humans, has led to the critical endangerment of the Cuban Kites. 

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

By Jaimoreira Fotografia, CC BY-SA 4.0 

Etymology: Crane Hawk

First Described By: Kaup, 1847

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Accipitrimorphae, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae, Buteoninae

Status: Extant, Least Concern

Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

The Crane Hawk is known from Central and South America 

Physical Description: The Crane Hawk is a distinctive bird, extremely different in silhouette from other birds of prey. It doesn’t have short, stocky legs and thick toe talons - instead, it has long, thin legs, with thin toes and thin talons. Hence its name - the crane hawk - as its legs look like those of a crane. In general it has a stocky body, with long tail feathers, and a small but distinctive head. The beak is sharp, but curved distinctly downward. There are many varieties of this bird - all have orange legs and black and white striped tails. However, two subspecies are grey in color, while the third is black in color. Of the two grey subspecies, one has light banding on its belly, while the other is just pure grey. Juveniles are usually brown with white-streaked heads. The sexes tend to look roughly the same. These birds range from 38 to 54 centimeters in body length.

Diet: The Crane Hawk is a jack-of-all-trades, food wise, feeding on a ridiculously large number of things. The Crane Hawk will eat rodents, bats, lizards, snakes, frogs, birds, bugs, molluscs, and even fruit from time to time. 

By Lip Kee, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Behavior: Crane Hawks spend most of their time clinging to tree trunks, reaching with its double-jointed legs to grab food from tree hollows. They also use these ridiculously long legs to reach into tightly backed leaves, and even to hang upside down to find food underneath branches. They drop from trees while hanging upside down, to catch prey left on the ground. These hawks also catch food while flying, ducking down low to catch food while flying. Crane Hawks do make contact calls to one another, especially in the early morning, and they sound like “whee-oo-whee-o-whee-o.” They make nasal, drawn-out screams as well, and even more mellow whistles. They don’t migrate, but they are somewhat nomatic back and forth across their range. 

By Diver Dave, CC BY-SA 4.0 

As for breeding, they start nesting depending on the location - some start as early as April, others start as late as July. The pair have very vocal courtships, with aerial displays and feeding each other prior to mating. They make nests in the form of small and shallow cups with sticks and vines, lined with grass and weeds. They are usually placed up to 15 meters tall in trees, sometimes even higher up. Both parents will construct the nest, and they’ll even share and swap nests with Bicolored Hawks. They lay two eggs per clutch, which are incubated for a month and a half. The chicks are brown and white, and remain in the nest for two months. They make begging “p-weeOO” calls, almost like the meowing of a cat, repeatedly for food. The male does most of the feeding of the children. The young remain with at least one of the two adults for another month after fledging, before going off on their own. They breed for the first time when they are two or three years old. 

By Jorge Dantas, CC BY-SA 4.0 

Ecosystem: Crane Hawks are found in all sorts of habitats, from dry deciduous forest to rainforest, from mangroves to savanna, from grassland to ponds and marshes. It is even found in human-created habitats such as plantations and farms. It is usually found at lower elevations.

Other: Crane Hawks are not considered threatened with extinction, even though they’re fairly uncommon. Different populations are more common than others, with the populations of Mexico going down a bit.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

By Scott Reid 

Etymology: Old Hawk

First Described By: Milne-Edwards, 1863

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Accipitrimorphae, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Sometime between 27 and 22 million years ago, from the Chattian of the Oligocene through the Aquitanian of the Miocene. 

Palaeohierax is known from near Chaptuzat, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes of France

Physical Description: Palaeohierax is one of many fossil birds known from mainly toe bones, but surprisingly, this toe bone is well preserved and tells us a decent amount about this dinosaur. This toe clearly marks Palaeohierax as a raptor, probably a daytime one; it is wider and flatter than those of hawks, and more robust than hawks as well, linking it in most likely to Ospreys or Eagles. It is also very similar to the living Palm-Nut Vulture, so it’s difficult to place it exactly within the Accipitrids. It has a less broad outer surface than Eagles, and does have a little bit of an enlarged barrel to the toe as in the Palm-Nut Vulture. However, it has small portions to the bone and strong edges, much like eagles. A part of a leg bone and hand bone have been found as well, but they are more fragmentary than the toe bone.

So, in short, Palaeohierax would have resembled a cross between hawks and the Palm-Nut Vulture - sort of a catch-all Accipitrid, but robust as well. This means it may have actually resembled the Bearded Vulture in appearance. It would have been about the same size as the modern White-Tailed Eagle, which has a typical wingspan of up to 2.45 meters - making Palaeohierax on the larger side for birds of prey.

Diet: As a large, robust bird of prey, Palaeohierax would have mainly fed upon other animals such as mammals, reptiles, and birds. 

By José Carlos Corteés

Behavior: Palaeohierax would have probably resembled living birds of prey in its behavior, spending much of its day flying around and searching for prey; it would have dived down upon spotting them and used its large talons to grab onto its food (which would have been especially robust and muscular). It’s possible it would have also eaten carrion, given its similarities to some vultures; but it’s uncertain if that would have made up the bulk of its diet, especially given how its toes seem well adapted for hunting prey. As a dinosaur, it would have most likely taken care of its young, but more specifics on its breeding behavior are unknown.

Ecosystem: Palaeohierax probably lived alongside the shoreline of France at the time, given what sorts of other animals have been found in the same time and region. That being said, the exact fossil location of Palaeohierax has not been well reported. This was a fairly lush coastal environment, with a variety of pine trees, as well as many kinds of algae.

Here, there were many kinds of animals that Palaeohierax would have been able to feed upon - different turtles such as Ergilemys and Ptychogaster; lizards like Pseudeumeces, Dracaenosaurus, and Ophisauromimus; many kinds of rodents, shrews, a horse-like rhino relative called Allacerops, true rhinoceroses by the names of Molassitherium and Ronzotherium, and some early cats like Proailurus that would have probably attempted to hunt Palaeohierax in return. There was also a large, bulky hoofed mammal called Paenanthracotherium. As for other dinosaurs, they weren’t quite as commonly fossilized; but the gannet Empheresula was present in the same general time and place.

Other: Palaeohierax, despite its mysterious taxonomic placement within the birds of prey, is one of the few vulture-like dinosaurs known from the Neogene of Europe; and one of only a handful of Accipitrids from this time and place overall.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut