Savanna Hawk
The Savanna Hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis) is a bird of prey found from Panama and Trinidad south to Bolivia, Uruguay and central Argentina. Its habitat is open savanna and swamp edges.
The adult is 18 to 24 inches in length and weighs close to 30 ounces. It has a reddish-brown body with gray mottling above and fine black barring below. The flight feathers are black, and the tail is banded black and white. The legs are yellow. Young birds are similar to adults but have darker, duller upperparts, paler underparts with coarse barring, and a whitish eyebrow. The call is a loud screeching keeeeru.
The Savanna Hawk feeds on small mammals, lizards, snakes, crabs and large insects. It will sit high on an open perch and then swoops down onto its prey, but will also hunt on foot. The nest is made of sticks lined with grass and built in a palm tree. The female lays a single white egg, and the young fledge after 46 to 54 days.