White-tailed Hawk (Buteo albicaudatus)

White-Tailed Hawk, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Cameron County, Texas
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved. (view image details)

WHITE-TAILED HAWK FACTS

Description
The White-tailed Hawk has gray head and back, white underside and reddish patch on the shoulder. The tail is white with a black band near the tip. Males and females are similar in appearance, although females are larger. Juvenile birds are dark brown with light patch on upper chest, and gray tail with fine bars.

Size
length 46cm - 58cm. Wingspan 132cm.

Environment
Open country, savanna, prairie, arid scrub

Food
eats rodents, small reptiles, frogs, insects, birds.

Breeding
Large nest is made of twigs lined with dry grass, positioned in a tree or tall plant from 1.5m - 5m above the ground. Nest is added to each year and can reach 1m across. Lays one to three white eggs often spotted with brown.

Range
The White-tailed Hawk is found in coastal Texas, Mexico, Central America to southern South America.

Classification

Class:	Aves
Order:	Falconiformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Genus:	Buteo
Species:	albicaudatus
Common Name:	White-tailed Hawk

Relatives in same Genus
  Short-tailed Hawk (B. brachyurus)
  Red-tailed Hawk (B. jamaicensis)
  Rough-legged Hawk (B. lagopus)
  Red-shouldered Hawk (B. lineatus)
  Gray Hawk (B. nitidus)
  Ferruginous Hawk (B. regalis)
  Swainson's Hawk (B. swainsoni)

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