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Forest falcon

Forest falcons
Collared forest falcon
(Micrastur semitorquatus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Subfamily: Herpetotherinae
Genus: Micrastur
G.R. Gray, 1841
Type species
Falco brachypterus Temminck, 1822=Sparvius semitorquatus Vieillot, 1817
Species

7 currently recognised: See text

Forest falcons are members of the genus Micrastur, part of the family Falconidae. They are endemic to the Americas, found from Mexico in the north, south through Central America and large parts of South America, and as far south as northern Argentina. Most are restricted to humid tropical and subtropical forests, but the two most widespread species, the collared and the barred forest falcon, also range into drier and more open habitats.[1]

Forest falcons, like most Accipiter-type hawks (but unlike other falcons), are adapted for agility in thick cover rather than outright speed in the open air. They have short wings, long tails, and extraordinarily acute hearing. While generally visually inconspicuous, their songs are commonly heard.

Their diet is a mixture of birds, mammals, and reptiles. Hunting is often performed in goshawk fashion: the bird takes up a perch in an inconspicuous position and waits for a prey species to pass, then strikes with a short, rapid pursuit. Forest falcons are inventive, flexible hunters, and at least some species (such as the relatively long-legged collared forest falcon) are also capable of catching terrestrial prey on foot.

Taxonomy

The genus Micrastur was introduced in 1841 by the English zoologist George Gray with Falco brachypterus Temminck, 1822, as the type species.[2] This scientific name is a junior synonym of Sparvius semitorquatus Vieillot, 1817, the collared forest falcon.[3][4] The name Micrastur combines the Ancient Greek μικρος/mikros meaning "little" or "short" with the genus name Astur that was introduced in 1799 by Bernard Germain de Lacépède for the goshawks.[5]

The English ornithologists Philip Sclater and Osbert Salvin commented in 1869 that "some of the members of the genus Micrastur are at present in a state of great confusion". They listed seven species,[6] of which four[7] are currently recognised and three[8] are considered subspecies.

In 1873, Robert Ridgway noted the similarity of Micrastur to the laughing falcon Herpetotheres. He wrote that "Eight species are given in Gray’s Hand List…, but of this number only five are tenable."[9][10]

In 2002, a new species was described, found in the Atlantic forest and the southeastern Amazon of Brazil (and later also confirmed for adjacent parts of Bolivia). It has been named Micrastur mintoni, the cryptic forest falcon, as it is phenotypically highly similar to M. gilvicollis.[11]

Species

Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
Micrastur ruficollis Barred forest falcon south-eastern Mexico through Central and South America to southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina
Micrastur plumbeus Plumbeous forest falcon Chocó in south-western Colombia and north-western Ecuador.
Micrastur gilvicollis Lined forest falcon western and northern Amazon Basin.
Micrastur mintoni Cryptic forest falcon south-eastern Amazon rainforest in Brazil and Bolivia.
Micrastur mirandollei Slaty-backed forest falcon Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Micrastur semitorquatus Collared forest falcon Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Micrastur buckleyi Buckley's forest falcon Peru, Ecuador and far southern Colombia.

References

  1. ^ Bierregaard, R. O. (1994) Species accounts - Genus Micrastur. In: Del Hojo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J (eds), Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 2, pp 252–254. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions
  2. ^ Gray, George Robert (1841). A List of the Genera of Birds : with their Synonyma and an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus (2nd ed.). London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 6.
  3. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 395.
  4. ^ Dickinson, E.C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr., eds. (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-9568611-0-8.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. "Micrastur". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  6. ^ Sclater, Philip Lutley; Salvin, Osbert. "Notes on the Species of the Genus Micrastur". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 364–369. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1869.tb07339.x.
  7. ^ M. semitorquatus, M. mirandollei, M. ruficollis, M. gilvicollis.
  8. ^ M. zonothorax, M. leucauchen, M. guerilla.
  9. ^ Those five were listed as: M. semitorquatus, M. mirandollei, M. ruficollis, M. leucauchen, and M. concentricus. He excluded M. castanilius as a species of Nisus (now Accipiter castanilius). He considered M. guerilla and M. zonothorax to be different forms of the same species, and that M. xanthothorax and M. gilvicollis were synonyms of M. ruficollis.
  10. ^ Ridgway, Robert (1873). "Revision of the falconine genera, Micrastur, Geranospiza and Rupornis, and the strigine genus, Glaucidium". Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. 16: 73.
  11. ^ Whittaker, A. (2002). A new species of forest-falcon (Falconidae: Micrastur) from south eastern Amazonia and the rain forests of Brazil. Wilson Bulletin, 114, 421–445.

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