Dark Chanting-Goshawk Melierax metabates Scientific name definitions

A widespread and relatively common raptor of sub-Saharan Africa, Dark Chanting-Goshawk is found in a variety of woodland habitats, including savanna, old olive groves, palm and orange groves, and thornbush. Their plumage is largely gray, with very fine gray and white barring on the belly and undertail coverts, accented with reddish legs and cere. Birds typically avoid drier habitats that are typically occupied by other members of the genus occur. The common name of the genus, chanting-goshawk, comes from their advertisement call, which is described as a melodious whistle. A generalist hunter, birds feed on a wide variety of prey items, including lizards, snakes, rodents, birds up to the size of Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), and insects. While across its range Dark Chanting-Goshawk is not considered to face any immediate conservation threats, it is declining in parts of its range, mostly as a result of habitat loss, with the isolated population in Morocco thought to be on the verge of extinction.

42–50 cm (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); male 646–695 g (478–700 g in subspecies mechowi) (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ), female 841–852 g (650–815 g in subspecies mechowi) (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ); wingspan 86–104 cm (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Generally darker gray on upperparts than Pale Chanting-Goshawk (M. canorus) and slightly larger and seemingly longer-legged Eastern Chanting-Goshawk (M. poliopterus); plain gray upperwing-coverts; rump barred grey and white; redder cere; southern African populations of M. poliopterus have white secondaries absent in both eastern African birds and the present species (3 Allan, D. G. (1997). Field identification of African Accipiter species and similar-looking hawks. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 4(2):74–82. Close ). Similar at all ages to much smaller Gabar Goshawk (Micronisus gabar), but only outer tail barred and latter has pure white uppertail-coverts. Larger and longer-legged than Lizard Buzzard (Kaupifalco monogrammicus) and lacks white central tailband of latter. Male usually has paler wing-coverts than female. Bare parts: bill base and cere red, irides red-brown and legs red (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ). Juvenile dull brown above, with brown/gray streaking on rump, wing-coverts fringed paler, gray cere, dull yellow legs and pale yellow eye . Juvenile M. poliopterus is very similar and can only safely be separated by rump coloration: white with faint, rust-coloured V-shaped markings in poliopterus (appearing white at distance), but broadly gray-streaked in present species (appearing uniformly gray at distance) (3 Allan, D. G. (1997). Field identification of African Accipiter species and similar-looking hawks. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 4(2):74–82. Close ).

Subspecies are separated on size, intensity of gray, and extent of white markings. Subspecies neumanni often treated as synonym of nominate; ignoscens likewise very similar to nominate, but possibly smaller (4 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Five subspecies recognized.

Broadly distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, but is absent from some of the driest regions as well as the wettest, most heavily forested regions. Found from Senegal and Gambia is West Africa east Ethiopia and Eritrea. They continue south through Uganda and western Kenya, Tanzania, to northeastern South Africa. In the southern portion of the range, they continue west to northern Namibia and Angola. Isolated populations are found on the southwestern Arabian Peninsula and in southwestern Morocco.

Moist broadleaved woodlands and well-wooded savanna, barely overlapping with drier habitats of congeners, although around L Chad, where no other Melierax occurs, this species and Gabar Goshawk (Micronisus gabar) appear to segregate to some extent by habitat, with the latter species hunting in wetter areas over floodplains (5 Buij, R. and Croes, B.M. (2013). Raptor habitat use in the Lake Chad Basin: insights into the effect of flood-plain transformation on Afrotropical and Palearctic raptors. Bird Conservation International. 23(2): 199-213. Close ). In Morocco, found almost exclusively in Argan woodland (Argania spinosa), but also old olive groves, thornbush, palm and orange groves (6 Thévenot, M., R. Vernon, and P. Bergier (2003). The Birds of Morocco: An Annotated Check-list. British Ornithologists’ Union Check-list 20. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, UK. Close ). Recorded to 1,900 m in Arabia (7 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ) and to 3,000 m in mainland Africa (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Resident and sedentary in most areas; some movement south in dry season in western Africa, and into northeastern Zaire in November–April. Two records from Somalia subsequently reidentified as Eastern Chanting-Goshawk (Melierax poliopterus) (8 Ash, J. S., and J. E. Miskell (1998). Birds of Somalia. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, UK. Close ), while claimed occurrence in central Syria in winter 1995/96 appears extremely unlikely (9 Serra, G., M. Abdallah, A. A. Assaed, G. A. Qaim, and A. K. Abdallah (2005). A long-term bird survey in the central Syrian desert (2000–2004). Part 1. Sandgrouse 27(1):9–23. Close ). However, no doubt is attached to either of the two records in Israel, in Apr 1979 (10 Shirihai, H. (1996). The Birds of Israel: A Complete Avifauna and Bird Atlas of Israel. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) and Apr 2014 (11 van den Berg, A. B., and M. Haas, (2014). WP reports. Dutch Birding 36(3):195–208. Close , 12 Harrison, I. (2015). From the rarities committees. Sandgrouse 37(2):203–210. Close ). Unclear if provenance of mid-19th century specimens labelled as being from Egypt is correct (13 Goodman, S. M., P. L. Meininger, S. M. Baha El Din, J. J. Hobbs, and W. C. Mullié (Editors) (1989) The birds of Egypt. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. Close ) and, if so, if these specimens pertain to vagrants or reflect wider former range. Recently claimed on Fuerteventura (Canary Is) in Jul 2012 (14 van den Berg, A. B., and M. Haas (2012). WP reports. Dutch Birding 34(5):320–335. Close ). Recorded as vagrant to mainland Spain, but record now in doubt, though Moroccan population known to disperse mainly to norther and south, e.g. to Tangier Peninsula, although one record outside of usual range (at Cap Blanc) is thought to have possibly been of nominate metabates (6 Thévenot, M., R. Vernon, and P. Bergier (2003). The Birds of Morocco: An Annotated Check-list. British Ornithologists’ Union Check-list 20. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, UK. Close ). Three records from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates perhaps suggest immature dispersal (7 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ).

Mainly small vertebrates, especially lizards, small snakes , and birds, up to size of Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), francolins, and adult Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill (Tockus flavirostris) (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ), together with rodents, frogs, some insects (e.g., termite alates [15 de Visser, S.N., Freymann, B.P. and Olff, H. (2009). Bat-hunting behaviour of the Dark Chanting Goshawk Melierax metabates. Scopus. 29: 16-17. Close ], beetles, locusts [1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ], grasshoppers [7 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ]), and carrion. Mammals up to size of dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula) taken (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Observed unsuccessfully attacking African sheath-tailed bats (Coleura afra) departing their roost in Tanzania (15 de Visser, S.N., Freymann, B.P. and Olff, H. (2009). Bat-hunting behaviour of the Dark Chanting Goshawk Melierax metabates. Scopus. 29: 16-17. Close ). Hunts mainly from a perch , gliding down to catch prey, even pursuing it on foot like miniature Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius). Often attends bush fires (16 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ). Sometimes rapacious and makes fast sorties and chases through woodland, taking prey in flight. Occasionally follows honeybadgers (Mellivora capensis) or ground hornbills (Bucorvus) for prey they disturb.

Chanting-Goshawks (genus Melierax) received their common name for their melodious advertisement call. Contrary to what one may expect however, the Dark Chanting-Goshawk is not at all a vocal bird, and its loud Chanting call is only heard briefly during the breeding period.

Vocal development

Little information, and available literature typically refers to closely related Eastern Chanting-Goshawk (M. poliopterus). Young outside the nest utter a loud series of piping whistles when begging for food (Food call, 17 Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons, Editors (1980). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 2: Hawks to Bustards. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Such series consists of some 12‒24 overslurred notes gradually rising in pitch and amplitude (initial maximum frequency around 1.7 kHz rising towards 2.3 kHz, note duration 0.07-0.11 s). Also occasionally heard uttering Chanting Call while still dependent (17 Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons, Editors (1980). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 2: Hawks to Bustards. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

Vocal Array

Chanting Call. A loud rather melodious whistle followed by a short whistle (or none at all). Such phrase is repeated in long series wheee-wow.... wheee-wow.... This is the commonest vocalization. Phrases with more notes following the initial long whistle have also been recorded, but there is a potential pitfall with similar vocalizations of Lizard Buzzard (Kaupifalco monogrammicus), and thus requires confirmation.

Klee-klee-klee. A short cuckoo-like phrase of three notes klee-klee-klee or klee-klee-klew, typically repeated in long series.

Scream. A long drawn-out scream wheeeeeuw, given singly at long intervals (note duration about 1.6 s).

Kek. A single short nasal kek, repeated in loose series (18 Chappuis, C. (2000). African Bird Sounds. Volume 2. West and Central Africa. Société Ornithologique de France & British Library National Sound Archive, Paris & London. Close ).

Food call. Uttered by adults, this vocalization is very similar to the Food call of juvenile birds (see above) .

Geographic Variation

Has not been studied, and the few available recordings do not allow assessment at present. Chanting call is similar to M. poliopterus, but available recordings suggest the latter has typically two or more short notes following the initial long whistle (versus none or just one).

Phenology

Generally silent outside the breeding season (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ). At the onset of the breeding season, (presumed) male delivers the Chanting call at intervals, often for hours. Both sexes call (apart or together, from perch or in flight) throughout the breeding cycle, but most frequent during the nest-building phase and before. Food call is uttered when prey is given by the male to the female, and is confined to the period of incubation and the first few weeks after hatching (17 Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons, Editors (1980). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 2: Hawks to Bustards. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Once juveniles have fledged, Food call of juveniles is mainly heard. In Ghana, most vocal from April-May, but Chanting call has also been heard in January, March, and also September, when juvenile call was also heard (19 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Daily Pattern of Vocalizing

Little information. Mainly vocal in the morning, but vocal activity primarily determined by activities around the nest. Chanting call can be heard at dawn, in early morning, and at dusk (19 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Places of Vocalizing

Chanting call is mainly given from a perch at the top of a tree. Also calls on or near the ground (17 Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons, Editors (1980). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 2: Hawks to Bustards. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), and (rarely) in flight. Equally vocal on or near the nest.

Sex Differences

Little information. Chanting call and Food call are uttered by both sexes.

Social Content and Presumed Functions of Vocalizations

Chanting call is used in territorial advertisement, and presumably also plays a role in pair-bonding. Klee-klee-klee call is said to be an alarm call, used in threatening or mobbing situations (17 Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons, Editors (1980). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 2: Hawks to Bustards. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Scream possibly used against intruders or predators. Kek call has been recorded by a bird in undulating display flight (18 Chappuis, C. (2000). African Bird Sounds. Volume 2. West and Central Africa. Société Ornithologique de France & British Library National Sound Archive, Paris & London. Close ). With the exception of the Chanting and Food call, function of other vocalizations uncertain and requires further study.

None documented.

Laying March–May in northwestern (6 Thévenot, M., R. Vernon, and P. Bergier (2003). The Birds of Morocco: An Annotated Check-list. British Ornithologists’ Union Check-list 20. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, UK. Close ), western, and northeastern Africa; mainly February–April (perhaps also October) in southwestern Arabia (7 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ); June–July in East Africa; August–November (mainly September–October) (20 Tarboton, W. (2001). A Guide to the Nests and Eggs of Southern African Birds. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa. Close ) in southern Africa. Vocal, chanting from treetop, before nesting. Aerial displays include sky-dancing and much calling (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Both sexes build the platform of sticks (35–60 cm across) (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), often in a low fork (4.5–9 m above ground [20 Tarboton, W. (2001). A Guide to the Nests and Eggs of Southern African Birds. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa. Close ], once 13 m) (16 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ) in dense woodland, the nest lined with mud, grass, and dry debris (rags, skin, stones) (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ), including small bird nests (e.g. sunbirds and penduline tits) (20 Tarboton, W. (2001). A Guide to the Nests and Eggs of Southern African Birds. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa. Close ), and often covered in spiders’ webs. May reuse the same nest or precisely the same site in successive seasons (20 Tarboton, W. (2001). A Guide to the Nests and Eggs of Southern African Birds. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa. Close ). Clutch 1–2 bluish-white (21 Harrison, C. J. O., and P. Castell (2002). Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Second revised edition. HarperCollins, London, UK. Close ) eggs laid at three-day intervals, 52.6 mm × 41.3 mm (nominate) (21 Harrison, C. J. O., and P. Castell (2002). Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Second revised edition. HarperCollins, London, UK. Close ) or 48·8–59·3 mm × 38–45·5 mm (subspecies mechowi) (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ), mass ca. 48–52 g (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ); incubation at least 30 days, probably ca. 36–38 days (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), by female alone (21 Harrison, C. J. O., and P. Castell (2002). Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Second revised edition. HarperCollins, London, UK. Close ); chick has grayish-white down with long filaments on head and back; fledging about 36–50 days and usually only one survives (2 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ); juvenile very noisy in nest area for up to five months.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Widespread and common, especially in central Africa, where only recently (mid 1990s) added to Congo-Brazzaville list (22 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (1998). Further additions to and deletions from the avifauna of Congo-Brazzaville. Malimbus 20(1):15–32. Close ). Apparently very rare in Djibouti (23 Clouet, M., and C. Barrau (2013). Rapaces de Djibouti : esquisse du peuplement. Alauda 81(2):133–138. Close ). Some 400 pairs estimated in Transvaal, South Africa, and 2,500 pairs in southwestern Arabia (of which ca. 70% in Yemen) (7 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ). Roadside counts in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger in 1969–1973 and again in 2003–2004 revealed that outside protected areas numbers had declined from 3.6 (± 0.5) birds per 100 km to 1.5 (± 0.3) birds, while in reserves numbers also decreased from 3.5 (± 0.9) to 2.7 (± 0.6) birds per 100 km (24 Thiollay, J.-M. (2006). The decline of raptors in West Africa: long-term assessment and the role of protected areas. Ibis. 148(2): 240–254. Close ), equating to losses of 26–67% in different parts of West Africa (25 Thiollay, J.-M. (2007). Raptor population decline in West Africa. Ostrich. 78(2): 405-413. Close ), and species seems very rare in southern Mauritania and northern Mali, at least in December-January, based on similar roadside surveys (26 Anadón, J.D., Sánchez-Zapata, J.A., Carrete, M., Donázar, J.A. and Hiraldo, F. (2010). Large-scale human effects on an arid African raptor community. Animal Conservation. 13: 495-504. Close ). Vulnerable to cutting of woodland, and even arid habitats have become even more impoverished due to overgrazing (27 Thiollay, J.-M. (2006). Severe decline of large birds in the Northern Sahel of West Africa: a long-term assessment. Bird Conservation International. 16(4): 353–365. Close ), especially small isolated populations in Morocco and Arabian Peninsula; the latter population has perhaps declined, given apparent slight range contraction over past century (7 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ), while that in Morocco (subspecies theresae) is now restricted to Souss Valley and adjacent Anti-Atlas foothills (28 Vernon, R., Thévenot, M., Bergier, P. and Rousseau, E. (2005). Argan woodland: an important bird habitat in Morocco. Bull. Afr. Bird Club 12(2): 134–146. Close ), is considered to be Critically Endangered (just a few dozen pairs in 1980s) (28 Vernon, R., Thévenot, M., Bergier, P. and Rousseau, E. (2005). Argan woodland: an important bird habitat in Morocco. Bull. Afr. Bird Club 12(2): 134–146. Close ) and is now probably on verge of extinction (6 Thévenot, M., R. Vernon, and P. Bergier (2003). The Birds of Morocco: An Annotated Check-list. British Ornithologists’ Union Check-list 20. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, UK. Close ) due to continued removal and degradation of Argan woodland (28 Vernon, R., Thévenot, M., Bergier, P. and Rousseau, E. (2005). Argan woodland: an important bird habitat in Morocco. Bull. Afr. Bird Club 12(2): 134–146. Close ). Not known to be affected by pesticides.