The plumbeous forest-falcon (Micrastur plumbeus) is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae only found in the Chocó region in Colombia and Ecuador. This rare bird has not been often spotted, which makes its study complicated. For a long time, it was considered to be part of the lined forest-falcons but it now known to be a species of its own. It is currently considered a vulnerable species because of the precarity of its habitat that is threatened by deforestation. Description The adult plumbeous forest-falcon has a grey back and a grey head with very bright orange legs and face. Their breast is barred and paler than their back, and their belly is more whitish towards the tail. This raptor has a black tail with a white tip and a white band in the middle, going across the whole width. Their irides are dark brown. The individuals are 30-34 cm (13 in) long and females are bigger than males. As a matter of fact, females weigh 180-213g and males weigh 172-188g. Immature individuals look similar besides a whiter breast and beige-ish irides, clearer than in mature individuals. Forest-falcons usually have long tails and round wings, but the plumbeous forest-falcon has a shorter tail and long wings. Taxonomy For some time, it had been debated whether the plumbeous forest-falcon was a lined forest-falcon (Micrastur gilvicollis) or a subspecies of the latter because of their resemblance. As it turned out, these birds were two different species. Their territorial distributions are completely separate. M. plumbeus and M. ruficollis interestes live in the same environment but do not interbreed, or even interfere with each other. They are sympatric and syntonic. The plumbeous forest-falcon differentiated about 3 million years ago after the split between trans- and cis-Andean South American populations. The closure of the Panama seaway, due to a drier and cooler climate linked to the formation of ice sheets at higher latitudes, may have highly contributed to the isolation of the plumbeous forest-falcon. Forest-falcons are part of the sub-family Herpetotherinae. This clade's and Polyborinae's species are usually found in forests and wetlands. Habitat and Distribution The plumbeous forest-falcon is endemic to the south of the Chocó region in South America. This region extends in the south-west of Colombia and the north-west of Ecuador. This bird lives all-year long in forest lowlands and foothill forests; it is not a migratory bird. The elevation of