Lined Forest-Falcon

Micrastur gilvicollis

The lined forest falcon (Micrastur gilvicollis) is a species of bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is endemic to humid forest in the western and northern Amazon Basin. Populations found in the south-eastern Amazon Basin (south of the Amazon River and east of the Madeira River) were formerly included in this species, but were described as a new species, the cryptic forest falcon, in 2003. Together with the plumbeous forest falcon of the Chocó, they are an example of a cryptic species complex. While adults of all three species have the deep orange-red facial skin and cere that separates them from the sympatric barred forest falcon, only the lined forest falcon has two white bars in the tail (in addition to a narrow white tail-tip). The species is listed by the IUCN as a species of least concern, indicating that populations are not in decline.