Behavior

The Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle is a soaring predator, and often soars to high-altitudes. When it spots potential prey, it folds its wings for a quick pursuing descent. Willis (1988) notes that when soaring, the Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle resembles a King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa), which is a scavenger that has a very similar range to the hawk-eagle and often soars at much greater heights. From below, both species are white with dark primaries and retrices. Being smaller than a King Vulture, the Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle may cause alert prey to suspect that it is higher in the sky and more distant than is actually the case, only to be surprised by a rapid descent (Willis 1988).

Very little is known about the reproductive behavior of these hawk-eagles. One observation noted that a nesting pair flew off to a small grove of trees across a road from a nest tree to copulate, and the male called repeatedly in a high-pitched scream (Bierregaard et al. 1994b). No further information on courtship is available.