CreatureData

Black-faced hawk

Leucopternis melanops (Latham, 1790)

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The black-faced hawk (Leucopternis melanops) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 312 g to 355 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Black-faced hawk (Leucopternis melanops)
Photo: Hector Bottai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black-faced hawk

Weight
312 g – 355 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
65 cm – 78 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the black-faced hawk?

BLACK-FACED HAWK · WINGSPAN 78 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 78 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the black-faced hawk is about 46% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the black-faced hawk live?

Not recorded

What is the black-faced hawk?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black-faced hawk (Leucopternis melanops) is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. This low-density species has traditionally been believed to be restricted to Amazon Basin north of the Amazon River, but there are several records south of this river, in, for example, the Brazilian states of Pará and Acre, and southeastern Peru. It is closely related to the white-browed hawk and individuals showing a level of intermediacy between the two species are known, suggesting that they rarely hybridize

From the Wikipedia article “Black-faced hawk” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-faced_hawk&oldid=1380656295), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the black-faced hawk endangered?

The black-faced hawk is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the black-faced hawk classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusLeucopternis
  7. SpeciesLeucopternis melanops (Latham, 1790)

Synonyms Falco melanops

Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • باز أسود الوجهArabic
  • aligot emmascaratCatalan
  • káně škraboškováCzech
  • Gwalch WynebdduWelsh
  • Sortmasket VågeDanish
  • ZügelbussardGerman
  • nigramaska buteoEsperanto
  • Busardo carinegroSpanish
  • Gavilán carinegroSpanish
  • mask-selvaviuEstonian
  • helmiselkähaukkaFinnish
  • Buse à face noireFrench
  • crnolici škanjacCroatian
  • kantáros erdeiölyvHungarian
  • Poiana faccianeraItalian
  • カオグロノスリJapanese
  • juodaveidis keršasis suopisLithuanian
  • ZwartmaskerbuizerdDutch
  • maskevåkNorwegian
  • białostrząb okularowyPolish
  • bútio-de-mascarilhaPortuguese
  • gavião-de-cara-pretaPortuguese
  • Чернолицая агуйлаRussian
  • Чернолицый пегий канюкRussian
  • myšiak okuliarnatýSlovak
  • Crnoliki mišarSerbian
  • svartmaskad vråkSwedish
  • Kara Yüzlü ŞahinTurkish
  • канюк жовтодзьобийUkrainian
  • 黑脸南美鵟Chinese
  • 黑臉南美鵟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black-faced hawk

Other species in the same genus Leucopternis.

CompareBlack-faced hawk vs White-browed hawkBlack-faced hawk vs Semiplumbeous hawk

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the black-faced hawk?

An adult black-faced hawk weighs 312 g – 355 g and has a wingspan of 65 cm – 78 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the black-faced hawk endangered?

The black-faced hawk is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the black-faced hawk?

The black-faced hawk (Leucopternis melanops) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black-faced hawk (Leucopternis melanops). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-faced-hawk

MLA

“Black-faced hawk (Leucopternis melanops).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-faced-hawk.

BibTeX
@misc{black_faced_hawk_2026,
  title = {Black-faced hawk (Leucopternis melanops)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-faced-hawk},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}