Sounds and Vocal Behavior

The most frequent call of Great Black Hawk is a high-pitched, drawn-out (2-4 s) and mostly even scream, sometimes with voice breaks, given both by immatures and adults. This vocalization is quite different from the laughing call of Common Black Hawk Buteogallus anthracinus; it is more similar to calls of Solitary Eagle Buteogallus solitarius, but the scream of that species is lower-pitched. Great Black Hawk also gives an overslurred shorter call.

In the display flight, Great Black Hawk gives a long series of short calls, like this example from Venezuela or this example from Argentina. For ridgwayi, Gerhardt et al. (2012) mention a series of short repeated notes, ending with a slightly longer one, given by both adults during the nest building phase.

Additional audio recordings of vocalizations of Great Black Hawk can be heard at Macaulay Library and at xeno-canto.

None reported.