The Dark Chanting Goshawk (Melierax metabates) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, eagles and harriers.
This hawk breeds in sub-SaharanAfrica, but avoids the rain forests of the Congo basin. There is a small and declining isolated population in Morocco.
It is a resident species of tropical and subtropical savannah. It builds a stick nest in a tree and lays one or two eggs. It eats a variety of vertebrate prey and large insects.
Dark Chanting Goshawk is a large long-tailed broad-winged hawk, with a 105cm wingspan. It is slate-grey above and white with fine barring below. The tail is black and white. In flight, the wings are grey with black tips. The flight is stiff and mechanical.
This species derives its name from the breeding season song, which consists of chanted flutes and whistles.
Pale ChantingGoshawk, Eastern ChantingGoshawk, Somali ChantingGoshawk
The ranges of the 2 species may overlap in the west of Kenya but the 2 can be distinguished by cere colour, which is yellow in the Pale and pinkish-red in the DarkChantingGoshawk and the under tail coverts (white in the Pale Chanting and barred in the DarkChanting).
The Pale ChantingGoshawk is a large, upright-perching hawk which, even as a juvenile, is easily recognisable from its long bare legs and tarsi and distinctive barring.
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