Dark chanting-goshawk  (Melierax metabates)

Description

The dark chanting goshawk is a bulky hawk, often seen in full view, perched upright on long, orange-red legs (4) (5). The head, chest and upperparts are essentially dark grey, while the abdomen, thighs and rump are all finely barred with black over white (4). The wing primaries are black, and the tail is broadly barred black and white (2) (4). Like the legs, the bare patch of skin at the base of the bill, called the cere, is orange-red. The female is, on average, larger than the male, but both sexes are very similar in appearance, while juveniles tend to have browner plumage (4). Five subspecies are recognised that occupy different parts of the species’ overall range and exhibit slight differences in size and appearance (2) (4).

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