Geranoaetus melanoleucus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The black-chested buzzard-eagle (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) is a bird of prey of the hawk and eagle family (Accipitridae). It lives in open regions of South America. This species is also known as the black buzzard-eagle, the gray buzzard-eagle, or analogously with "eagle" or "eagle-buzzard" replacing "buzzard-eagle", or as the Chilean blue eagle. It is sometimes placed in the genus Buteo.
Its scientific name is Latinized Ancient Greek and means "black-and-white crane-eagle" or (if called Buteo melanoleucos) "black-and-white buzzard": Geranoaetus comes from Ancient Greek géranos (γέρανoς), "crane" + aetós (ἆετός), "eagle". The "crane" reference is due to its grey upper wings and its loud cries. The alternative genus name Buteo is simply the Latin term used for these hawks in Ancient Rome, translating as "buzzard" (in the European sense). melanoleucus is from Ancient Greek mélan- (μέλαν-), "black-" + leukós (λευκός), "white". This refers to the contrasting coloration when seen from below.
When the black-chested buzzard-eagle was first described by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819, it was placed in the genus Spizaetus, as Spizaetus melanoleucus. Nowadays, however... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 2 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Amboró National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 4 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 8 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 10 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 11 | Lauca National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 12 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 13 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 2 | Arequipa | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 3 | La Paz | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 4 | Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle sighting in Serra da Canastra National Park on a given day, based on 79 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 124th most-seen of the 294 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle in Serra da Canastra National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, the lowest month. That is one of Serra da Canastra National Park's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain against 280 mm in January.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle sightings, Serra da Canastra National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Torres del Paine National Park (Chile, about 30%), Chingaza National Natural Park (Colombia, about 30%) and Amboró National Park (Bolivia, about 20%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle that you can see in Serra da Canastra National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are White-tailed Hawk (about 30%), Roadside Hawk (about 30%) and Savanna Hawk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle is recorded against all the birds logged in Serra da Canastra National Park (79 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
