Buteogallus anthracinus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The common black hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and vultures. The adult common black-hawk is 43–53 cm (17–21 in) long and weighs 930 g (33 oz) on average. It has very broad wings, and is mainly black or dark gray. The short tail is black with a single broad white band and a white tip. The bill is black and the legs and cere are yellow. The adults resemble zone-tailed hawks, but have fewer white bars on their tail and are larger in size.
Sexes are similar, but immature birds are dark brown above with spotting and streaks. Their underparts are buff to whitish with dark blotches, and the tail has a number of black and white bars. It formerly included the Cuban black-hawk (Buteogallus gundlachii) as a subspecies. The mangrove black hawk, traditionally considered a distinct species, is now generally considered a subspecies, B. a. subtilis, of the common black-hawk.
The common black-hawk is a breeding bird in the warmer parts of the Americas, from the Southwestern United States through Central America to Venezuela, Peru, Trinidad, and the Lesser... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Maracaibo | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Tegucigalpa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 6 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 8 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 9 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knowsley Safari Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | São Paulo Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Xcaret | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Zoológico Thomas Belt | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 6 | El Nispero Zoo | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Seaside Seabird Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Zoológico Miguél Álvarez del Toro | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Black-Hawk sighting in Maracaibo on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 55th most-seen of the 89 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and October–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Black-Hawk in Maracaibo on a given day, against under 5% in June–September and December–April, the lowest months. Those are among Maracaibo's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in February.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Black-Hawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Common Black-Hawk sightings, Maracaibo ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Panama City (Panama, about 10%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Common Black-Hawk that you can see in Maracaibo (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Pearl Kite (about 10%) and Harris' Hawk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Black-Hawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Maracaibo (17 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
