| Rufous Crab Hawk (Buteogallus aequinoctialis (Gmelin, 1788)) |
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Scientific name: Buteogallus aequinoctialis (Gmelin, 1788) Common name: Rufous Crab Hawk French name: Buse buson Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae Size: Body size: 43 to 47 cm; Wingspan: 90 to 106 cm; Weight : 500 to 945 g. Females are slightly larger than males. Habitat: Estuaries, mangroves, marshy coasts but also damp savannah along rivers. Food: The Rufous Crab Hawk, as indicated by its common name, mainly feeds on crabs, sometimes on fishes. Nesting: The nest is a small platform of twigs. It is located on a tree fork rather high over water, in the mangrove per example. There is often only one egg per brood, sometimes two. Migration: Sedentary. Geographic area: North-east of South America, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil. |
The Rufous Crab Hawk has a blackish plumage with rufous-tipped feathers on the wings and back. The wings are rather short and end at mid length of the tail when the bird is landed. The primary and secondary flight feathers have a rufous base that draws a rufous band with a black border. The tail is black with a thin whitish tip. The under parts are pale rufous and crossed by thin black stripes. The face and the eye ring are orange yellow. The bill is horn-coloured with a black tip. The legs are brownish yellow. |
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I have observed this Rufous Crab Hawk on the beach of Rémire-Montjoly. I have initially thought that its presence was due to the possible predation of baby turtles. Now I know, after having read documents, that this is not true as its food habits is almost exclusively based on eating crabs. |
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On this picture you can see the length of the wings just ending at the mid length of the tail. |
André Bon July 2015