Savanna hawk

I thought I'd kick off the first of two (2!) weeks focusing on venezuelan raptors (there'll be a gap in between the two fish, plant and herp fans) with my favourite Venezuelan raptor. The Savanna Hawks were very obliging, conveniently large and very beautiful which is why I have some nice photos of them.

This one in particular perched for an age on this picturesque looking log/tree trunk thingy.......

....before boring of us and gliding gently over to this fence post where, in the act of landing it gave a beautiful view of its spectacular tail and dorsal plumage.

Savanna hawks (Buteogallus meridionalis) are big birds but they seem to hunt by lunging from a perch onto surprisingly small prey, small mammals and snakes and so forth, rather than soaring. They have deceptively long legs and gave the impression of being pretty comfortable on the deck too. Interestingly they apparently often congregate at grass fires working the edges to catch those fleeing the flames.