Bat Falcon (Falco rufigularis)
Bat Falcon, Guajará-Mirim, Rondônia, Brazil, March 2003 - click for larger image Brazil and Guatemala

The Bat Falcon is distributed from Mexico through Central and South America to northern Argentina. See the distribution map at Birdlife International.

It is found in forest habitats including edges and recently cleared land with scattered trees.

Bat Falcon, Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil, April 2003 - click for larger image It is a small, dark falcon with yellow legs, cere and eyering. Upperparts and the sides of the head are black with throat, chest and half collar white. The breast and upper belly are black with thin white stripes while the lower belly and crissum are rufous. The tail is black with thin white bars. In flight it can be mistaken for a swift.

It gets its name from the fact that it feeds on bats but it also preys on smallish birds such as swallows, and largish insects most of which it captures on the wing.

Bat Falcon, Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil, December 2006 - click for larger image
Bat Falcon, Tikal, Guatemala, March 2015 - click for larger image
Bat Falcon, Tikal, Guatemala, March 2015 - click for larger image
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