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White-throated Hawk
Buteo albigula

DESCRIPTION:
White-throated Hawk
Aguilucho Andino
Buteo albigula
Length: 400mm (male) and 450mm (female). Sexes alike. Bill bluish grey with a black tip, cere yellow; iris chestnut brown; anterior part of forehead white; rest of forehead, cap and sides of head, upper and lower back and uppertail coverts blackish brown; feathers in the nape have a white base, some feathers in the ear patch are mixed with a rusty colour; sides and hind neck rusty; lesser scapulars as back; median and greater scapulars blackish brown with wide rusty buff margins; rectrices are dorsally dark brown with fine white terminal band followed by a broad blackish brown band and seven inconspicuous thin bands, also blackish brown; ventrally rectrices are ash grey with inconspicuous banding. Lesser upperwing coverts blackish brown, median and greater coverts blackish brown with rusty buff margins; secondaries dark brown; primaries blackish brown with inner vexillum whitish with dark brown banding in its innermost portion; underwing coverts white with dark brown and rusty banding; underside of secondaries grey with a broad dark greyish brown terminal band and thin bands of the same colour; underside of primaries white at base turning grey and greyish brown at the tip; primary coverts are blackish brown on the underside. Chin, throat and foreneck white; breast and abdomen white with sparse dark brown and rusty streaks; upper part of sides of breast and flanks dark brown and rusty with white margins; rusty and whitish barring in thighs; undertail coverts whitish buff with sparse rusty banding. Legs yellow.
Juveniles: during the first phase dark brown on back, paler in scapulars and wing coverts where feathers show whitish margins. Breast and underparts buff striated dark brown; sides of breast and flanks light brown. Subadults are mostly paler than adults and lack the rusty coloration in neck, scapulars, wing coverts and underparts. Sides of head are whitish striated with brown. Thighs have a pale buff background coloration with irregular dark brown barring.
Habitat and behaviour: easily identified by its small size and coloration, it is found solitary or in pairs; an excellent glider, it can be observed soaring at high altitudes in thermal updrafts or flying for long periods over forests and their edges or over mountain ridges.
It inhabits montane woodlands that support the tall beech species Nothofagus dombeyi and Nothofagus pumili, also lowlands and valleys where Austocedrus chilensis abounds or in nearby fields.
It feeds on birds, rodents, reptiles and insects; during the breeding season it preys on chicks of other species such as the Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) and baby chickens in farms, with a dash and seize technique in typical hawk fashion.
The nest consists of a fairly large platform made of intertwined twigs, placed on the uppermost branches of large tall trees; clutch size: three eggs. At Mallín Ahogado, north of El Bolsón, Río Negro, a nest built at a considerable height in a cedar (Austrocedrus chilensis) was observed; in the same area the authors spotted up to three individuals together, flying on the top of Loma del Medio. In other nests, it has been observed that in general, only one chick is raised per season.
The White-throated Hawk is an uncommon species, which has only recently been included in the avifauna of Argentina; some of the specimens collected by the authors of this book have proven helpful to know this species better.
In addition to the individuals collected, there follows some other districts where it has been observed on several occasions: El Hoyo de Epuyén and Lago Puelo in Chubut; Río Azul, Cerro Perito Moreno, Foyel and El Manso in Río Negro, and at Isla Victoria in Neuquén.
Range: migratory from Colombia and Venezuela, it occurs from October to late March, from southwest Neuquén and west of Río Negro to northwest Chubut. In Argentina it also occurs in the northwest. In Chile its range extends from Valdivia to Atacama.
Illustrated Handbook of the Birds of Patagonia
Kindness: Kovacs Family
 
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Photographs: Mariano Diez Peña


Birding Patagonia • Birdwatcing in Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina and Chile.
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Photographs on the website: Mariano Diez Peña