The barred hawk (Morphnarchus princeps) is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It has also been known as the black-chested hawk. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. 10,000 to 100,000 barred hawks are thought to exist throughout Central and South America. Barred hawks mainly live in the dense forests of the lowland and mountainous areas. Taxonomy and evolution Philip Sclater first classified the barred hawk in 1865. Barred hawks are in the family Accipitridae that contains all the hawks, eagles, and old world vultures. Recent research-using mtDNA to analyze the phylogeny of this genus has been done. What researchers found was that the black and white plumage of genus Leucopternis has evolved at least twice, and the widespread occurrence of this plumage pattern may result from plumage convergence in forested. In classical taxonomy, the black and white plumage pattern was overemphasized in the grouping of Leucopternis and plumage patterns alone may not be reliable taxonomic markers in this family. Studies suggest placing it in its own genus. Description The barred hawk appears black with a single white tail bar from above. The black barred and white belly and under-wing coverts contrast with the black throat, breast, and wing quills. Barred hawks have a snout-like bill that makes them look like they have a heavy head. Despite being a fairly large hawk, of similar size to a large member of the Buteo genus, its wing spread is relatively smaller than most related largish hawks, which allow them to maneuver through the thick forest canopy easier. Total length is from and wingspan is from . M. princeps weighs about The female barred hawk, showing sexual dimorphism, is larger than the males. In wing chord length, males measure about and wing length is in females. They have very broad wings and short tail: wingspan is 2.2 times total length of the bird. The body of a barred hawk is dark grey with a white chest. On the chest are uniformly spaced black bars, which is where the hawk gets its name. The calls of M. princeps include high-pitched screaming or whistling, hoarse "whees", "yips", "dits", and "weeps". Barred hawks are usually noisy when soaring in the sky. Distribution and habitat This species of hawk has a large