Slaty-backed Forest Falcon
Photo © NINA WENÓLI
Photo © NINA WENÓLI — CC0 1.0 — Source: iNaturalist photo #402023096The slaty-backed forest falcon (Micrastur mirandollei) is a species of bird of prey in subfamily Herpetotherinae of family Falconidae, the falcons, and caracaras. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, and every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. == Taxonomy and systematics == The slaty-backed, collared, and Buckley's forest falcons are sister species. The slaty-backed forest falcon is monotypic. The population in Central America and western Colombia and Ecuador, has at times been treated as the subspecies M. m. extimus, but this separation has not been widely recognized. == Description == The slaty-backed forest falcon is 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 in) long. Males weigh about 420 g (15 oz) and females about 500 to 556 g (18 to 20 oz). Its wingspan is 65 to 71 cm (26 to 28 in). Adults have slate gray upperparts, and are darker on the crown and lighter on the cheeks. Their throats and underparts are white to cream, and plain but for a few dark feather shafts making streaks. Their tail is dark slate gray with a white tip and three narrow white bars that often are indistinct. Their iris is yellowish brown to dark brown…
Arenal Volcano National Park
Peñas Blancas, Costa Rica
+551 birds+21 mammals
Straddling the border between Alajuela and Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica, this national park rises dramatically around one of Central America's most active volcanic systems. The…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKTortuguero National Park
Roxana, Costa Rica
+420 birds+23 mammals
Canals and lagoons thread through a labyrinth of lowland rainforest where the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica meets the wetland frontier. This is terrain shaped by…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKYasuní National Park
Aguarico, Ecuador
+601 birds+43 mammals
Where the western Amazon basin converges with Ecuador's Orellana Province, lowland rainforest reaches toward the horizon in an unbroken canopy of staggering botanical density. Yasuní National…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNatural Utría National Park
Alto Baudó (Pie de Pató), Colombia
+372 birds+11 mammals
Where the Chocó's coastal mountains plunge toward the Pacific, Utría National Park preserves one of Colombia's most biodiverse and least-visited wilderness expanses. Sprawling across 1,287 square…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKViruá National Park
Brazil
+389 birds+6 mammals
Across the northern frontier of Roraima, where the forest canopy rises from ancient Amazonian lowlands, Viruá National Park protects nearly 3,700 square kilometres of terra firme…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKAmazônia National Park
Brazil
+439 birds+6 mammals
Where the Rio Amazonas and its tributaries weave through the heart of Pará state, a vast tapestry of rainforest stretches across 23,611 square kilometers of unbroken…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKAnavilhanas National Park
Brazil
+468 birds+8 mammals
Across the Rio Negro in central Amazonas, an archipelago of over a thousand islands rises from the world's largest rainforest river system, creating a labyrinth of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKManu National Park
Manu, Peru
+892 birds+26 mammals
Across the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes, tropical rainforest descends into the Amazon basin with a complexity that few terrestrial ecosystems match. Manu National Park…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBahuaja Sonene National Park
San Pedro de Putina Punco, Peru
+602 birds+8 mammals
Where the Madre de Dios and Heath rivers converge in southeastern Peru rises one of South America's most biodiverse wilderness regions: a vast protected realm of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSoberanía National Park
Cristóbal, Panama
+495 birds+34 mammals
Rainforest and riverine woodland blanket the rolling terrain of this 714-square-kilometre national park in Colón Province, where the Caribbean watershed feeds a maze of streams and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKChagres National Park
Caimitillo, Panama
+486 birds+19 mammals
Where the Chagres River carves through the humid tropics of central Panama, a vast montane and lowland forest sprawls across more than 2,300 square kilometers, anchoring…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKDarién National Park
Tucutí, Panama
+534 birds+13 mammals
Where the spine of Central America crumbles into wetland and rainforest, Darién National Park sprawls across more than 20,000 square kilometres of some of the tropics'…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCahuita National Park
Talamanca, Costa Rica
+359 birds+15 mammals
Where the Caribbean shoreline dissolves into mangrove creeks and coral gardens, Cahuita's mosaic of habitats unfolds across the Limón coast. The park's signature feature—a living coral…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLa Amistad International Park
Crorina, Costa Rica
+532 birds+20 mammals
Where the Caribbean slopes of Costa Rica's Talamanca Mountains rise steeply inland from Limón, the boundary between two nations dissolves into an unbroken expanse of rainforest.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKVolcán Tenorio National Park
Guatuso, Costa Rica
+480 birds+12 mammals
Where volcanic slopes rise through Costa Rica's northwestern borderlands, Volcán Tenorio National Park sprawls across terrain shaped by ancient lava flows and mineral-rich springs. The park's…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge
Manzanillo, Costa Rica
+394 birds+18 mammals
Where the Caribbean coastal plain surrenders to water-logged forest and mangrove tangles, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Sanctuary shelters one of Costa Rica's most biodiverse lowland wetland ecosystems. The…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYBarra del Colorado National Wildlife Refuge
Tortuguero, Costa Rica
+462 birds+36 mammals
Where the Caribbean's restless waters meet the Limón Province coastline, Barra del Colorado National Wildlife Sanctuary unfolds across a landscape of extraordinary ecological complexity. This equatorial…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYNo community photos yet. Log in to add the first one.
No community observations of this species yet.