Short-tailed Hawk (Buteo brachyurus)
Short-tailed Hawk, Roraima, Brazil, July 2001 - click for larger image Roraima, Brazil
July 2001

The Short-tailed Hawk is rarely seen perched since it usually perches in thick canopy so these views of a soaring bird are the norm.

Short-tailed Hawk, Roraima, Brazil, July 2001 - click for larger image It is identified (in its normal, pale phase) by its black hood and generally white underparts with no apparent barring on the tail. It shows the usual broad wings and short tail of the buteos.

It is found from Florida, along the Caribbean coast of Central America, throughout most of tropical South America and into Paraguay and northern Argentina. Within this range it is found in a wide variety of habitats.

It feeds mainly on small birds which it takes off the tree canopy after swooping down from a height of over 100 metres.

There are illustrations in HBW, Volume 2, Page 178; Hilty & Brown, Plate II; and Ridgely & Greenfield, Plate 13.
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