Stats

Lifespan

6-10 yrs

Size

Large

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Flock

Biome

Freshwater wetland

Range

The Americas

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Speed

Status

Uncommon

About

This raptor lives in the high canopy of forests from the United States to Peru. It catches insects and small vertebrates mid-air without ever touching the ground.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   One or two eggs are incubated on a high stick nest or cliff ledge, guarded closely by the pair.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A downy hatchling is fed torn meat by its parents and grows quickly in a high nest.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to soar and to make its first kills.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, hunting on its own with adult plumage.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Accipitriformes

Family

Accipitridae

Genus

Elanoides

Species

Elanoides forficatus