Order
Accipitriformes
Family
Accipitridae
Genus
Pseudastur
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

White Hawk Pseudastur albicollis

Brian Magnier and Thomas S. Schulenberg
Version: 1.0 — Published January 25, 2013

Distribution

Distribution in the Americas

White Hawk is resident from Mexico south to Bolivia and to central Brazil. In Central America, its distribution is more or less continuous along the Caribbean slope from southern Mexico (north to southern Veracruz) south to Panama (Howell and Webb 1995, Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Stiles and Skutch 1989). It also occurs along the Pacific slope from southern Mexico (Chiapas) through Guatemala to El Salvador, and again in southwestern Costa Rica and in Panama (Land 1970, Thurber et al. 1987, Howell and Webb 1995, Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Stiles and Skutch 1989); the distribution also extends south along the Pacific slope of Colombia to the Anchicayá Valley in Valle del Cauca (Hilty and Brown 1986). White Hawk also occurs in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in Zulia (subspecies williaminae; Hilty and Brown 1986, Hilty 2003). There is a population (nominate albicollis) in northern Venezuela. Distribution in Peru of White Hawk. Solid circles: specimen records; open circles: sight records; dotted line: 1000 m contour (Schulenberg et al. 2006)Otherwise the distribution is more continuous from eastern Colombia south to Bolivia, and south to south central Brazil (Snyder 1966, Haverschmidt 1968, Hilty and Brown 1986, Tostain et al. 1992, Sick 1993, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001a, Hennessey et al. 2003, Hilty 2003, Schulenberg et al. 2010).

The elevational range of White Hawk is from the lowlands up to 1000 m in Mexico (Howell and Webb 1995); to 1400 m in Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch 1989); to 1400 m in Colombia (Hilty and Brown 1986), to 1500 m in Venezuela (Hilty 2003), Ecuador (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001a), and Peru (Schulenberg et al. 2010); and to 1100 m in Bolivia (Hennessey et al. 2003).

Distribution outside the Americas

White Hawk is endemic to the Americas.

Habitat

White Hawk occupies lowland evergreen forest; at least in some parts of its range, prefers regions with hilly terrain (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Schulenberg et al. 2010). Regularly soars over the forest.

Historical changes

Historical changes in its range have not been well-documented. White Hawk is inferred to have disappeared at one site in southwestern Costa Rica, presumably as a result of forest fragmentation (Daily et al. 2001), but it remains present on Barro Colorado Island in the Canal Zone, Panama (Willis and Eisenmann 1979).

Fossil history

None reported.

Distribution of the White Hawk - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the White Hawk

Recommended Citation

Magnier, B. and T. S. Schulenberg (2013). White Hawk (Pseudastur albicollis), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.whihaw1.01