Bat Hawk

Macheiramphus alcinus Bonaparte, 1850

Bat Hawk, Macheiramphus alcinus, is a bird of prey that breeds across Africa, the Oriental Region and Australasia, including Myanmar, Borneo and New Guinea. It is a widespread raptor of sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia to New Guinea, and it uses open country for hunting while also living in habitats from dense rainforest to semi-arid veld. Its diet is mainly bats, which it takes in flight. The bird is slender and medium-sized, with long wings and a falcon-like shape in the air. Adults are dark brown or black, with white on the throat and chest and pale streaks above and below each eye.

Order

Accipitriformes

Family

Accipitridae — Kites, Hawks, Eagles

Breeding range

Africa, Oriental Region, Australasia: widespread in AF, Myanmar to Borneo and New Guinea