in one foot. Small prey is swallowed whole and larger items torn apart. Breeding 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 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. Vocalization 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." 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". "Fully developed duets will often turn into syncopation, which is very important when forming pair bonds." 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. In culture 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. Some folklore says that the species is capable of predicting rain. Status 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. "Populations are larger in disturbed forests than they [are] in primary forest." References External links Falconidae Birds described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Birds of Mexico Birds of Central America Birds of South America