Orange-Breasted Falcon: A Rare Bird of Belize

A rare Orange Breasted falcon is perched on a tree past the 1000 foot falls.

Orange Breasted Falcon, Falco deiroleucus

      In Belize's Hidden Valley eco resort, this beautiful bird is considered one of the rare five, including the King Vulture, the Stygian Owl, the Solitary Eagle, and the Black and White Hawk-Eagle. I have seen one twice, this time from around a mile away, and the second time, I could clearly see the orange breast as it flew at its fantastic speed, right above my head. The 1000 foot falls are one of the few places in this resort where a falcon could be seen, out of the thirty pairs in all of Central America (as stated by the Peregrine Fund). This bird is also a critical example of the footprint of humans, as the decline of the Orange Breasted Falcon is due to habitat loss.

My Experience of Birdwatching

The falls were captured with a feature providing effects

      When my mother was booking this trip, she had told me about the five rare birds and how we would give my father a massage at the spa if we saw all of them. We only saw two, one being the Orange Breasted Falcon, and on our first day, we had spotted a King Vulture. Before this trip, she had also given me a Canon PowerShot SX530 camera, with an extremely high zoom. With this, I could take the picture above from around a mile away. As our family journeyed on a full-day birding tour, our guide, Hugo, took us to a stop at the 1000 foot falls to try and spot one. As we arrived, we could see the simple, empowering, magnificence of the roaring, beating, waterfall. I had recently discovered a feature on my camera that took multiple photos and added an effect to each. I never used this for living things as it marred the natural effect and only subtracted from the beauty. I never, however, hesitated to do this on landscapes and waterfalls and I simply couldn't resist this time! I was getting excited. I had so much hope we were going to see an Orange Breasted Falcon. What was annoying, though, was the fact my mother (though Hugo spotted it) saw a male Masked Tityra. As you may know, I can't stand it when my mother spots an incredibly rare or beautiful bird before me. If so, I at least have to have the best picture. I usually do! Buuuuut, not for this bird. But with my zoom, I had taken the best picture of the falcon by far. You are probably getting the impression I spotted it. Nope. Our guide did. As I was scanning the trees and cliffsides for a bright flash of orange movement, he had seen one on a tree on the other side of the valley (it looked like the Chinese character for 3, sān for those who are familiar). Hearing this, everyone trained our eyes on where he was pointing, but for experienced birders, you may realize that pointing is very unhelpful. No one could understand his description, but I believe my father had found it first and had shown me. I had then shown my mother. Though the DSLR camera was with my father and he took pictures with great quality, I could get the zoom. I remember frantically calling out to my mom to stabilize my hands and trying my hardest. My first picture had emboldened me. The color was seen and even the guide was impressed. I was not going away without an even better one, where the falcon was closer to center. With my mother stabilizing my hands, I was trying again and again and again, capturing a blurry one in a different posture, two downright bad ones, and many sharp beautiful ones. But my best picture, I had added to this blog, my image of the Orange Breasted Falcon that I am the most proud of.

 

Identification and Information (Peterson Field Guide)

 Size: Usually around 13.5 inches (34 centimeters)

Call: A nasal, high pitched kek-kek-kek-kek-kek

Description: Dark head, rusty brown-orange color on the neck and leg area with dark barring in between, very large feet

Habitat: Edges of rainforests and pine savannas, mainly perches on higher levels on bare branches and snags

Diet: Mostly birds

Other: Lives either solitary or in pairs, powerful and direct flight 

Biology Note:

 These notes won't be there all the time but are helpful hints to future biologists. You might have noticed the scientific name of the bird was provided. This is a system of classification known as binomial nomenclature. When writing in binomial nomenclature, one must always write the genus name followed by the species name, italicize the words, and capitalize the genus but never the species.

Last Note:

I hope this has encouraged you to travel to Belize. I had an extremely pleasant trip, going on tours, swimming, and freely hiking on trails. I want to wish you luck that should you go, you should see all five rare birds. Thank you for reading this post and stay tuned for more at birdfiles.blogspot.com!