Breeding

Egg laying in Guatemala occurs late February-early March, during the early to mid dry season (Parker et al. 2012). Breeding in Costa Rica also occurs during the dry season (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Other reports are of breeding in September in Venezuela (Mader 1981), January in Argentina, May in southwestern Colombia (Hilty and Brown 1986), July in northwestern Peru (Robbins and Wiedenfeld 1982), and September in central Brazil (Specht et al. 2008).

The nest usually is a cavity in a tree, but less frequently, may be a crotch of a tree (Robbins and Wiedenfeld 1982), in epiphytes (Wolfe 1954), or in the stick nest of other raptors (Marchant 1960). At one site in Guatemala, mean nest height was 21 m (range 16-31 m; Parker et al. 2012).

The typical clutch is one egg; the eggs are white, marked with brown. Mean egg dimensions are 59.8 ± 3.0 x 47.3 ± 2.0 mm (n = 8; Parker et al. 2012).

Incubation is done by the female (Miller et al 2010) and usually lasts 40 to 42 days (Miller et al. 2010) or ca 45 days (Parker et al. 2012). The chicks receive biparental care (Specht et al 2008). Fledglings leave the nest after ca 55-59 days (Parker et al. 2012).