Order
Accipitriformes
Family
Accipitridae
Genus
Spizaetus
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Ornate Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus ornatus

Marshall J. Iliff
Version: 1.0 — Published March 26, 2010

Diet and Foraging

Diet

Brown and Amadon (1968) considered medium-sized to large-sized birds to be the primary prey, but noted that mammals as large as kinkajou (Potus flavus) also are included in the diet. However, two studies of prey items have shown mammals to comprise slightly less than half of prey brought to nests. Flatten et al. (1989) studied 52 prey items in Tikal National Park, Guatemala, and identified 40.4% as avian, 46.1% as mammalian, and 13.5% as unidentifiable. In Manaus, Brazil, Klein et al. (1988) found 63.5% of 49 identified prey items to be avian, 32.7% to be mammalian, and 4.1% to be reptiles; these included tinamous (Tinamus sp. and Crypturellus sp.), macaws (Ara sp.), toucans (Ramphastos vitellinus), guans (Penelope sp.), and chachalacas (Ortalis motmot), and mammals including opossums (Didelphis sp. and Matacharis sp.), agouchi (Myoprocta sp.), and porcupines (Coendu sp.). They also report squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus), tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis), spiny woodrats (Proechimys sp.), and Purple Gallinules (Porphyrula martinica) taken at Manu, Peru. Lyon and Kilham (1985) observed prey deliveries involving a young tinamou (Tinamidae), Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula), a young Crested Guan (Penelope purpurascens), Gray-headed Dove (Leptotila plumbeiceps) and a leaf-nosed bat (Phyllostomatidae), as well as an unidentified white bird. In Trinidad and Tobago, french (1991) reported prey to be primarily birds and that it is known to have taken chickens. Others have reported the following prey: Great Currasow (Crax rubra; Russell 1964), vultures (Cathartidae; Stiles and Skutch 1989), Guianan Cock-of-the Rock (Rupicola rupicola; Trail 1987), green iguana (Iguana iguana; Clinton-Eitniear et al. 1991), a lizard (Teiidae; Klein et al. 1988), and snakes (Klein et al. 1988, ffrench 1991). Acosta-Chaves et al. (2012) report an observation of a hawk-eagle capturing a Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher (Ptilogonys caudatus).

When hunting, it mostly still hunts from hidden perches and swoops in to pounce on prey or give a swift tail chase (Ferguson-Lee and Christie 2001, Ridgely and Gwynne 1989). Occasionally power dives at high speed into colonies of herons or troops of monkeys (Hilty 2003). Several attacks have been observed. At a Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock lek, Trail (1987) observed single Ornate Hawk-Eagle attacks on eight of 254 days; two attacks resulted in successful kills, and in this study these were the only successful kills out of 56 attacks by six species of raptor. In both successful attacks the hawk-eagles made shallow dives into the active lek and struck male cock-of-the-rocks on or near the ground and killed them instantly. In one kill, the hawk-eagle plucked its prey on a fallen trunk just beyond the lek, but in the other case it carried the prey away from the lek. Kilham (1978) described an attack on a Crested Guan, wherein the hawk-eagle swooped in on four Crested Guans. The guans flew off in four different directions and the one that was pursued by the hawk-eagle began screaming loudly and giving guttural sounds and growls while perched in the middle of a tree. The hawk-eagle was apparently impeded by tangled branches and unable to reach the guan; it eventually gave up at which point the guan switched to more typical "cawk, cawk, cawk" calls. Friedmann and Smith (1955) report a successful capture of an adult guan.

Foraging Behavior

Recommended Citation

Iliff, M. J. (2010). Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.orheag1.01