Diurnal Birds of Prey of Belize

DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY OF BELIZE Nevertheless, we located thirty-four active Osprey by Dora Weyer nests, all with eggs or young. The average number was three per nest. Henry Pelzl, who spent the month The Accipitridae of June, 1968, studying birds on the cayes, estimated 75 Belize is a small country south of the Yucatán to 100 pairs offshore. Again, he could not get to many Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea. Despite its small of the outer cayes. It has been reported that the size, 285 km long and 112 km wide (22 963 km2), southernmost part of Osprey range here is at Belize encompasses a great variety of habitats: Dangriga (formerly named Stann Creek Town), a mangrove cays and coastal forests, lowland tropical little more than halfway down the coast. On Mr pine/oak/palm savannas (unique to Belize, Honduras Knoder’s flight we found Osprey nesting out from and Nicaragua), extensive inland marsh, swamp and Punta Gorda, well to the south. lagoon systems, subtropical pine forests, hardwood Osprey also nest along some of the rivers inland. Dr forests ranging from subtropical dry to tropical wet, Stephen M. Russell, author of A Distributional Study and small areas of elfin forest at the top of the highest of the Birds of British Honduras, the only localized peaks of the Maya Mountains. These mountains are reference, in 1963, suspects that most of the birds seen built of extremely old granite overlaid with karst inland are of the northern race, carolinensis, which limestone. The highest is just under 1220 m. Rainfall winters here. For many years I have seen a pair of varies from 1524 mm in the north to over 4000 mm in Osprey nesting by Little Falls on the Belize River, I the south. have received a reliable report of a nest on the Upper Belize is unique because it is the one country in Sibun River, and one or two Osprey are seen in all Central America that is underpopulated, with only months of the year at Crooked Tree Lagoon. These 160 000 people, roughly half of whom are concen birds have white breasts and are evidently ridgwayi. trated in eight cities and towns. (El Salvador, with The Osprey successfully hatch their eggs. DDT is approximately the same area, is struggling under a used mostly for house spraying in the malaria-control population of some six million). This means that program and is not used extensively for much of Belize’s area is still wilderness, particularly in agricultural use. Apparently, the amounts washing the Maya Mountains, which are severely eroded. into the rivers are not sufficient to affect Osprey eggs. Belize, therefore, still serves as a reservoir for many Belize boasts seven species of kites, all of them of the endangered species of central America — nesting, although two are not year-round residents. Jaguar, Ocelot, Jaguarundi, Margay, Baird’s Tapir, These seven form a mixed bag; each belongs to a Manatee, Great Curassow, Crested Guan, White Hawk, different genus and some, such as the Snail Kite, have Tyrant, Black-and-white and Black Hawk-Eagles, un-kite-like wing shapes and fly in un-kite-like fashion. Ocellated Turkey, Morelet’s Crocodile, and, perhaps, Snail Kites, for instance, seem to me to fly like big the magnificent Harpy Eagle. herons. The seven are: Gray-headed Kite (Leptodon In this article I have attempted to bring up to date the cayanensis), Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax unci- data on Belize’s kites, accipiters, buteos and other natus), American Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides hawks, its three hawk-eagles and two eagles. The forficatus), Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeru- sequence and nomenclature follow the American leus), Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis), Double Ornithologists’ Union’s 1983 “Checklist of North toothed Kite (Harpagus bidentatus) and Plumbeous American Birds, 6th Edition”. Several species, Kite (Ictinia plumbea). Swainson’s Hawk (Accipiter striatus), Cooper’s The Gray-headed (or Cayenne) Kite is large for a kite, Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), Solitary Eagle (Harpyha- with long wings bluntly rounded and a long rounded liaetus solitarius), and Black-and-w hite Hawk-Eagle tail. It is a Neotropical species, ranging from SE (Spizastur melanoleucus), are recorded for Belize for Mexico to eastern Bolivia, northern Argentina, the first time. New information on distribution and Paraguay and southern Brazil. It also occurs in abundance, and on habits, is also given here. Trinidad. It is an uncommon species in Belize, found The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is well-known to our mostly in gallery forest along creeks and rivers in the coastal people as the “billy-hawk”. The rare ridgwayi lowlands. It is reported to occur as well in savanna is resident, breeding on the coastal cayes. In fact, elsewhere, but this is not true in Belize, possibly Osprey are abundant here; almost every caye with land because our lowland savannas are unique, being above high tide has a resident pair. On May 3 and 4, dominated by pine trees. 1971, Dr Eugene Knoder flew Dr Alexander Sprunt The first one I saw, on Black Creek (now included in IV and myself in a small plane along the coastline of the newly established Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanc Belize to count nesting egrets, herons, etc. Because of tuary), was the most unusual smooth, quiet gray. The the distance from shore and limitations of time, we head was soft blue-gray, the eyes, cere and bill exactly did not cover Lighthouse Reef with four permanent the same shade. The back and wings were darker cayes (one of which, Half Moon Caye, I knew to have gray, the underparts a whitish gray. Even the legs supported a pair of Osprey for many years), Glover’s were blue-gray. Only the tail was blackish, but it had Reef with four permanent cayes, where I know of three two bands of light gray and a narrow white tip. Later pairs, the Snake Cayes, the extensive range of the sightings proved that this individual was more Sapodilla Cayes, the Ranguana Range, the Silk Cayes uniform in color than most; most have black eyes, a or any of the other distant cayes in the south. black bill and most have a blackish or at least very 22 23 BELIZE dark gray color above, and some are all-white darker with two light gray (whitish below) bars. The below. This first bird did not fly, so only later did I usual female has a gray head, a narrow rufous collar learn of this species’ striking black wing linings and around the hindneck. She is brown above and heavy black and white barred flight feathers below. narrowly barred rufous and white below. In the less Immatures come in two co lo r phases. The one I have common black phase adult, both male and female are seen most commonly has an attractive white head and all black and the tail has only one light bar. The usual neck except for a black crown spot, and all-white color immature, which I have yet to see, is blackish underparts including the under tail coverts. From above, white below, with a white collar around the below, the wing linings in the immature are white. I hindneck and there are three whitish bars on the tail. have seen the dark phase immature only twice. It The black phase immature is brownish black overall, looks smaller and vicious, bearing no resemblance to many of the feathers tipped with light rufous. the adult or the light phase immature. The entire head The food is generally listed as tree and land snails, but and upper surface is black, the underparts white there are records of the large aquatic apple snail heavily streaked with black. The cere and facial skin (Pomacea sp.) being taken and Frank B. Smythe are prominently bright yellow. records these as being its primary food in Tikal. It is This species soars regularly and then the black wing also known to eat frogs, salamanders and insects. linings are distinctive. I have more usually seen it Alexander Wetmore describes one as being attracted perched quietly in a tree along one of the many by his bird “squeaker”, and the bird that flew to me on forested creeks. In my experience, it is a quiet bird the Hummingbird Highway was definitely attracted although I have heard it giving a trogon-like note by my searching. Raptors attracted by such noises are repeatedly. It eats insects and is particularly fond of usually bird-eating species. wasp larvae. It is also reported to take molluscs, I have never seen a nest and the only record I know is frogs, including tree frogs, and bird eggs. I have not Haverschmidt’s description of one in Suriname (Jour. seen a nest, but the presence of immatures and für Ornith., 105:1: 64–65). year-round sightings indicate that Gray-headed Kites The Swallow-tailed Kite is the most graceful of flying are breeding residents. birds in the New World, to my mind even exceeding The Hook-billed Kite is a Neotropical forest species the Magnificent Frigatebird and the Red-billed ranging from northern Mexico south to Peru, Bolivia, Tropicbird in beauty of flight. It ranges farther north northern Argentina and Paraguay and to parts of the than most of our kites, nesting as far north as South West Indies. It is rare in Belize. Stephen M. Russell Carolina, and is known to have formerly bred over lists five records but it is probable that three of these much of the eastern United States. To the south, it made within five months of each other in 1957 at the reaches northern Argentina.

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