The Rufous Crab-hawk has a rufous belly and yellow feet. It searches for crabs in coastal mangroves and swoops down from a branch to catch them.
It is dark brown with rufous on the belly and wing edges. Its short tail has a narrow white band, and its feet and skin around the eyes are yellow.
Active by day, it searches for crabs from low branches in mangrove and swamp habitat. It swoops down, grabs a crab and carries it to a dry perch to eat.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.