Galápagos Hawk (Buteo galapagoensis), Suaraz Point, Española (Hood) Island, Ecuador, South America.

A Galápagos Hawk (Buteo galapagoensis) rests at Suaraz Point, a wet landing location on Española (Hood) Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, South America. Their numbers have been wiped out by human-caused disturbance, and only 150 mating pairs of this rare hawk exist. As the most recent natural animal arrival on the Galápagos archipelago 300,000 years ago, and as the only original predator, this endemic raptor is known for its fearlessness towards humans and authority over other birds. Females are noticeably larger than males as in many species of birds of prey. Mature adults are generally a sooty brownish black with a slightly darker crown. Pale brown, grey, or buff feathers line the edge of the mantle, and the tail is a silvery grey. Their grayish black bill contrasts with a yellow cere, legs and feet. Juveniles are a blackish brown, mottled with buff and white and a black streak extending from the corners of their mouth. Unlike adults, juveniles’ bills are blue-grey at the base, their cere a grey-green (a soft, fleshy swelling found on the beak), and their feet a pale yellow-green.

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Filename: 09ECU-5183_Galapagos.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / Photoseek.com
Image Size: 3103x4000 / 2.3MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Animalia Aves Ecuador Galapagos Islands Pacific Ocean PhotoBest South America adventure animal avian bird bird of prey equator hawk nature outdoor travel vertebrate wildlife animal
Contained in galleries: ECUADOR: Galapagos Islands, ECUADOR: favorites

A Galápagos Hawk (Buteo galapagoensis) rests at Suaraz Point, a wet landing location on Española (Hood) Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, South America. Their numbers have been wiped out by human-caused disturbance, and only 150 mating pairs of this rare hawk exist. As the most recent natural animal arrival on the Galápagos archipelago 300,000 years ago, and as the only original predator, this endemic raptor is known for its fearlessness towards humans and authority over other birds. Females are noticeably larger than males as in many species of birds of prey. Mature adults are generally a sooty brownish black with a slightly darker crown. Pale brown, grey, or buff feathers line the edge of the mantle, and the tail is a silvery grey. Their grayish black bill contrasts with a yellow cere, legs and feet. Juveniles are a blackish brown, mottled with buff and white and a black streak extending from the corners of their mouth. Unlike adults, juveniles’ bills are blue-grey at the base, their cere a grey-green (a soft, fleshy swelling found on the beak), and their feet a pale yellow-green.