The Slaty-backed Forest Falcon has a gray back and narrow white tail bars. It is solitary and lives in lowland rainforest and mature secondary forest in Costa Rica.
Adults are slate gray above, with whitish flecking on the face and white or buff underparts. The black tail has three or four narrow white bars. Juveniles are browner above.
In Costa Rica, it is solitary and inhabits lowland rainforest and mature secondary forest.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global
The global population is assessed as decreasing.