Laughing falcons communicate with a "laughing" call. They call in duets with the opposite sex for several minutes producing loud sounds that resemble laughter.
Communication Channels: acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Laughing falcons are listed as Appendix II by CITES.
US Migratory Bird Act: no special status
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
The negative impact that laughing falcons have on humans has been greatly exaggerated. Many farmers dislike birds of prey in general because they claim that the birds kill their livestock. For this reason they have been persecuted for years, sometimes to the point of extinction.
There is a rare practice called falconry in which a bird is trained to seek and kill prey for humans. Although there is no information stating that this particular species of falcon is used in falconry, it is a possibility that they were used in the past.
Positive Impacts: pet trade
Because of their feeding habits, laughing falcons have an impact on the populations of the prey they eat.
The primary diet of laughing falcons consists of small snakes. The birds hunt from an open perch and then pounce on the snake. It is possible hear a thud as the bird kills its prey. Laughing falcons grip the snake behind the head, sometimes breaking it off. They have been known to occasionally eat lizards, bats, rodents and fish.
Animal Foods: mammals; reptiles; fish
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates)
Laughing falcons are found in the neotropical region. They are most common in Central America and tropical South America.
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )
Laughing falcon habitat includes open parts of tall forests as well as deforested country with scattered trees. Laughing falcons can also be found around forest clearings and edges. They can be found from sea level to elevations of 2500 m.
Range elevation: sea level to 2500 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest
Other Habitat Features: agricultural
There was no information available regarding the lifespan of laughing falcons in the wild. The longest recorded lifespan in captivty is 14 years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 14 (high) years.
Herpetotheres cachinnans typically has a large creamy yellow or whitish head with black coloring around its large owl-sized eyes creating what looks like a mask. It has a thick yellow bill. Its wings are short and only reach to the base of its tail. The cream colored tail is striped with black. Adults weigh between 400 and 800 g, are 40 to 47 cm in length and have wingspans of 25 to 31 cm. There is little size difference between the sexes, however, the female has a slightly longer tail and is slightly heavier.
Range mass: 400 to 800 g.
Average length: 40-47 cm.
Range wingspan: 25 to 31 cm.
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
We do not have information on predation for this species at this time.
There is little information about mating systems for laughing falcons. Most falcons (family Falconidae) are monogamous and they usually nest as solitary pairs. Laughing falcons use vocal performances to attract mates. Often pairs will sing in duets for minutes at a time near dusk and dawn.
The breeding season for laughing falcons varies with latitude. They usually lay one to two eggs per clutch. No information was available about the time to hatching for laughing falcons, however, for falcons in general hatching occurs after 45 to 50 days and the chicks fledge in about 57 days.
Breeding season: Varies with latitude
Range eggs per season: 2 (high) .
Average eggs per season: 1.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; oviparous
The parents share the incubation duties, although toward the time of hatching the female is reluctant to move from the nest. After the egg has hatched (45 to 50 days) the male assumes the role of hunter and the female tends to the young. It is extremely rare for a male laughing falcon to feed the young. No information was available regarding when parents stop feeding the young. However, in general, birds of prey decrease feeding slowly over time until the young are forced to fly from the nest and find food.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement; altricial ; pre-hatching/birth (Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female)
The laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) is a medium-sized bird of prey in subfamily Herpetotherinae of family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras.[2] It is found from Mexico south through Central America and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.[3][4]
Major taxonomic systems place the laughing falcon in subfamily Herpetotherinae with the forest falcons.[5][6][2][7][8] Earlier it had been placed in subfamily Falconinae with the "true" falcons.[3] It is the only member of genus Herpetotheres. Though up to six subspecies have been proposed, only two have widespread acceptance: the nominate H. c. cachinnans ((Linnaeus, 1758) and H. c. fulvescens (Chapman, 1915).[2][9]
The laughing falcon's generic name Herpetotheres refers to its preferred food; it is Latinized Ancient Greek, derived from [h]erpeton (ἑρπετόν, "reptile") + therizein (θερίζειν, "to mow down").[10] Its English name comes from its loud voice, as does the specific epithet cachinnans, Latin for "laughing aloud" or "laughing immoderately".[11]
The laughing falcon is 45 to 56 cm (18 to 22 in) long[9] and has a wingspan of 79 to 94 cm (31 to 37 in).[12] Females are slightly larger than males and significantly heavier. Males of the nominate subspecies weigh 408 to 686 g (0.9 to 1.5 lb) and females 590 to 800 g (1.3 to 1.8 lb). Subspecies H. c. fulvescens is slightly smaller than the nominate.[13]
The sexes of the laughing falcon have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have creamy white underparts that vary somewhat among individuals, seasonally, and with feather wear. They have a broad dusky black face "mask" that continues around the neck as a narrow collar. Their crown has dusky black feather shafts that show as narrow streaks, and the rear of the crown has a small bushy crest. Their wings and back are dusky black. Their tail is also dusky black, with four or five white bands, though some individuals have white spots instead. The uppertail coverts are pale buff to cream. The underside of their wing is pale buff, sometimes with some dusky spotting on the underwing coverts, and the flight feathers have cinnamon rufous bases and darker bars. Their iris is dark brown or hazel, their bill is black with a pale yellow to orange-yellow cere, and their feet are usually dull yellow.[9][13]
Immature laughing falcons differ little from adults; they have lighter margins to the back feathers, producing a scalloped effect. Some individuals have cinnamon buff or dusky streaks and spots on their underparts.[9][13]
In flight the laughing falcon shows a rufous patch at the base of the wing's underside and a shape more like an Accipiter hawk than most of its falcon relatives, with short, rounded wings and a long tail.[13]
Subspecies H. c. fulvescens has the same plumage pattern as the nominate but is darker and richer colored overall; its underside is more cinnamon buff than creamy white.[9][13]
The nominate subspecies of the laughing falcon is by far the more widespread. It is found from southern Sonora and San Luis Potosi south through Central America, "exiting" through northeastern Pamama into northern Colombia. In South America its range continues east through Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south, east of the Andes through Ecuador, Peru, Boliva, and Paraguay into northeastern Argentina, and in most of Brazil. Subspecies H. c. fulvescens is found from Panama's Darién Province south through western Colombia and western Ecuador into northwestern Peru as far as the Department of Lambayeque.[9]
The laughing falcon inhabits a wide variety of semi-open treed landscapes, shunning the interior of dense forest. It is found in primary evergreen and deciduous forest, gallery forest, secondary forest, palm groves, and savanna and other open areas with some trees or forest patches. It is generally a bird of the lowlands, from sea level up. It reaches 1,500 m (4,900 feet) in most of Central America though it occurs locally to 1,850 m (6,100 feet) in Costa Rica. It reaches 2,400 m (7,900 feet) in Colombia but usually is much lower. It occurs mostly below 800 m (2,600 feet) in Ecuador, 1,000 m (3,300 feet) in Peru, and 900 m (3,000 feet) in Bolivia.[9][13]
The laughing falcon's flight is slow, with quick, shallow wingbeats interspersed with glides; the bird rarely if ever soars. It flicks its tail up and down when it lands. It frequently perches conspicuously on a branch for hours, sitting upright and observing the ground alertly, sometimes flicking its tail or nodding, or moving around a bit on its perch with slow steps.[13]
The laughing falcon is a year-round resident throughout its range.[9]
The laughing falcon mainly feeds on snakes, including venomous ones such as coral snakes, and some large ones as well. In secondary forest and other disturbed habitats, it also feeds on lizards, small rodents, bats, and fish; there are a few records of its feeding on birds and centipedes. It usually hunts from a perch, dropping or pouncing on its prey "with an audible thud". It carries the food to a perch to eat, with small snakes in its bill and large ones in one foot. Small prey is swallowed whole and larger items torn apart.[13][9]
The laughing falcon's breeding season varies geographically. Eggs are laid early in the dry season (February and March) in Guatemala and Costa Rica. Breeding activity has been reported during September (the rainy season) in Venezuela, in January in Argentina, in May in southwestern Colombia, in July in northwestern Peru, and in September in central Brazil. It usually nests in tree cavities as high as 30 m (100 ft) above the ground, but also uses a tree crotch, rock crevices, and abandoned nests of other raptors. It adds little or no material to the site. The clutch is usually one egg but sometimes two. The female alone incubates; the period is about 40 to 45 days and fledging occurs about 55 to 59 days after hatch. Both parents care for the nestlings and fledglings.[13][9]
The laughing falcon is highly vocal. Its "advertisement call" is a "long rhythmic far-carrying series of loud hollow notes...often after bubbly laugh at outset, series of wah notes that gradually increase in pitch and loudness...into series of wah'-co phrases."[13] This vocalization has also been described as song and rendered as "a fairly steady wah wah or w-hah w-hah or ha...ha...ha". Nesting pairs duet, with the female's "au-au-auu" call answered by the male's "wah-koh, wah-koh, wah-koh".[9] "Fully developed duets will often turn into syncopation, which is very important when forming pair bonds."[9]
These vocalizations give rise to common names such as acauã in Brazilian Portuguese and halcón macagua, guaco, halcón guaco, and guaicurú in various Spanish-speaking countries.[9]
The Ch'ol Maya of Chiapas, Mexico, believe that the laughing falcon can kill venomous snakes because the birds are healers that can cure themselves if they are bitten. Tzotzil healers imitate the call of a laughing falcon in order to cure a snake bite.[14] Some folklore says that the species is capable of predicting rain.[15]
The IUCN has assessed the laughing falcon as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range and an estimated population of at least a half million mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] "Populations are larger in disturbed forests than they [are] in primary forest."[9]
The laughing falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) is a medium-sized bird of prey in subfamily Herpetotherinae of family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found from Mexico south through Central America and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
