Harris's Hawk is distributed from the south of the USA through Central America to South America as far south as central Chile and Argentina. See the distribution map at xeno-canto. It is found in fairly open country and normally up to about 1,500 metres.

There are two sub-species. The nominate, often called Bay-winged Hawk, is found in South America except western Colombia and north-west Peru. It has a greyer face with some speckling below as well as being smaller with a longer tail. The sub-species. P. u. harrisi is found in North and Central America as well as western Colombia and north-west Peru where this photo was taken.