About Percnohierax leucorrhous (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
The white-rumped hawk (Percnohierax leucorrhous) is 33 to 40 cm (13 to 16 in) long, with a wingspan of 67 to 79 cm (26 to 31 in). Recorded weights are 290 g (10 oz) for one male and 389 g (14 oz) for one female. Males and females have identical plumage. Adults are almost entirely black, with the species' characteristic white rump and white undertail coverts. Their tail has a narrow grayish-brown band at its midpoint, and their feathered thighs are rufous. Their eye, cere, legs, and feet are yellow. Immature individuals have brown upperparts with rufous mottling, and heavily mottled rufous underparts.
The white-rumped hawk has two geographically separate distribution ranges. The first range extends from the Andes and other mountains of Venezuela and Colombia, south along the Andes through Ecuador into Peru, Bolivia, and northwestern Argentina. The second range runs from southern Brazil through Paraguay into northeastern Argentina. This species lives in the interior and edges of dense subtropical and tropical forest, and also occupies the Chaco in its eastern range. In terms of elevation, it mostly occurs between 1,500 and 2,900 m (4,900 and 9,500 ft) in Colombia, between 1,650 and 2,500 m (5,400 and 8,200 ft) in Peru, and up to 3,500 m (11,500 ft) in Bolivia. It is found at lower elevations in its eastern range.
