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The black hawk-eagle is one of a number of hawk-eagles (genus Spizaetus) found in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. It is mainly a bird of lowland tropical forests; this one was photographed near Pantiacolla Lodge, at about 400 m elevation in southeastern Peru. Black hawk-eagles, especially adults like this one, are striking birds with overall black coloration with white highlights on the legs, wings, and tail, and a small crest. They are reputed to feed mainly on large lizards (iguanas) but when this one appeared, a nearby troop of squirrel monkeys immediately descended from the forest canopy to shrubby vegetation close to the ground, and spent a lot of time anxiously looking upwards. Another page shows images of a much larger, rarer congener, the black-and-chestnut eagle S. isidorii, which is found in higher-altitude cloud forests than the black hawk-eagle. |
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