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;Buteo albicaudatus | ;Buteo albicaudatus | ||
| − | [[Image:White-tailed_Hawk.jpg|thumb| | + | [[Image:White-tailed_Hawk.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by HelenB |
<br> Photo of a pale morph taken near the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR, near Eagle Lake, SE Texas in August 2004.]] | <br> Photo of a pale morph taken near the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR, near Eagle Lake, SE Texas in August 2004.]] | ||
==Description== | ==Description== | ||
Revision as of 01:55, 21 May 2007
- Buteo albicaudatus
Description
A bulky hawk with a short white tail with a black sub-terminal band. The common pale morph has white underparts and rump, dark gray back and rusty-colored shoulder patches. The rarer dark morph is, except for the tail, almost entirely brownish-black. Juveniles are mainly blackish with variable whitish markings on the underparts and head.
Range
It occurs in a wide range of open or semi-open habitats from south-eastern Texas, through Central America, and most of South America east of the Andes as far south as central Argentina. It is absent from densely forested regions (e.g. most of the Amazon).
Diet
The White-tailed Hawk feeds on insects, reptiles, mammals, amphibians or even smaller birds. It can be seen near roads, where, like the Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus), it waits for roadkilled prey.
Behaviour
It flies against the wind without flapping and usually takes sun baths, ruffling its feathers, which can somehow resemble the Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus).
