These small falcons like to perch on the tops of dead snags.
Males are considerably smaller than females and have a somewhat different head shape. The top two photos are a male. Notice the ear-like projection on the side of his head, especially on the second photo. Bat Falcons eat birds, flying insects and bats which they capture in mid-air. The kill in these photos is a bird (toes are visible), but too many feathers have been plucked for me to identify. Any suggestions?
As I was photographing the feeding male, the much larger female came swooping low right past me. She then dive-bombed the male forcing him off his perch and displacing him on the same branch. She is in the bottom two photos. Much loud Kestrel-like calling ensued. Marital spat?
Note the relatively smaller eyes and flatter head of the female cf. the male. Also the rusty undertail coverts visible in the third photo indicate she is an adult. The female seemed none too happy with her mate's refusal to share. Note the lack of ear-like projections on her head.
Two (HBW) or three (Clements) subspecies are recognized with petoensis ranging from Mexico to Ecuador. One or two darker races are found in South America, east of the Andes. The scientific name F. albigularis has been applied to this species in the past.
Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LZ5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA | hand-held (no adapter)