Endangered
Chaco Eagle
Buteogallus coronatus
The Chaco eagle or crowned solitary eagle, is an endangered bird of prey from eastern and central South America.
Appearance
The Chaco eagle is a large raptor with a mostly dull and silvery grey body plumage. Its short black tail has a broad white medial band as well as a white tip and both its cere and legs are yellow. As its name indicates, the Crowned Solitary Eagle has a crest of darker grey feathers.
It is one of the largest raptors in the Neotropics and normally weighs around 2.95 kg (6.5 lb).
Range and habitat
This bird is endemic to eastern and central South America, where it is present in southern and central Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and in Argentina south to northern Patagonia. It has become regionally extinct in portions of its historical range, and is found in very low density throughout its range, making it one of the rarest and most threatened raptors in the Neotropical region. The Chaco Eagle can be found in semi open habitats such as open mixed grasslands, brushlands, savannahs, marshes and open woodlands.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
Often seen in solitary pairs or small groups of three, the Chaco Eagle is a tame crepuscular species that forages during early hours. Its diet consists mostly of small to medium size mammals.
Reptiles such as snakes, tortoises, and lizards also make up a smaller part of their diet. Normally, this raptor kills or hunts its prey, but some individuals have been seen eating dead deer, sheep, armadillos, and roadkill. Between August and October, a single white egg with grey spots is laid on a platform-like nest of sticks and leaves.
In crisis
The Chaco eagle or crowned solitary eagle, is an endangered bird of prey from eastern and central South America. Due to its rarity, not much is known about its biology or population. The Chaco Eagle is considered endangered.
Its population is declining, a trend that is most likely due to human activities. The Chaco Eagle populations are affected by many threats, among them habitat degradation, collisions with human structures, and persecution.
Chaco Eagle is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Chaco Eagle, Wikidata item Q1270261. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
