Bird Guide

Great Black Hawk vs Slate-colored Hawk

Great Black Hawk (Buteogallus urubitinga)

Great Black Hawk

Buteogallus urubitinga

Large1.2 kgWoodland

The adult great black hawk is 56 to 64 centimetres (22 to 25 in) long and weighs 1.1 kilograms (2 lb 7 oz). It resembles the common black hawk, but is larger with a different call and tail pattern. It has very broad wings, and is mainly black. The short tail is white with a broad black tip. The bill is black and the legs and cere are yellow. The sexes are similar, but immature birds are dark brown above with spotting and streaks. Their underparts are buff with dark spots, and the tail has a number of black and dusky bars. The call of the great black hawk is a distinctive piping ooo-wheeeeee.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Great Black Hawk
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Flight call · Esmeraldas: Canandé Botrosa Road end, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: unknown · Public domain
Slate-colored Hawk (Buteogallus schistaceus)

Slate-colored Hawk

Buteogallus schistaceus

Large1000 gForest

It is a medium-sized to large bird, typically about 40 cm (16 in) long. It is medium slate-grey in color, with contrasting bright white horizontal banding on its tail feathers. It has a medium-white breast with vertical black markings. It has a large orange cere at the base of its beak, and large yellow eyes.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Christoph Moning, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Christoph Moning · cc-by

Where you might meet both

Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Great Black Hawk and Slate-colored Hawk.