M. princeps weighs about 1 kg (2.2 lb)[4][5] The female barred hawk, showing sexual dimorphism, is larger than the males.

[3][6] They have very broad wings and short tail: wingspan is 2.2 times total length of the bird.

The calls of M. princeps include high-pitched screaming or whistling, hoarse "whees", "yips", "dits", and "weeps".

The barred hawks is primarily a Caribbean species of the middle altitudes,[7] and are found in Costa Rica, Peru, and Panama and on both sides of the Andes in northern Ecuador and western Columbia.

The hawks can be seen silently sitting on a branch looking for prey or habitually soaring noisily in the sky in a group of two or more.

When perching they are usually at a mid to low height off the ground and are often on the hunt for slow prey such as frogs, snakes, small mammals and birds, and large insects.

Of 104 prey items brought to a nest in Ecuador, 48% consisted of La Bonita caecilians and 35% were various snakes.