Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)

Identification & Behavior: ~51 cm (20 in). The adult Harris’s Hawk (or Bay-winged Hawk) is mostly black with a varying amount of chestnut wing coverts. The vent area and rump are white, the tail is black with a white terminal band. The juvenile is brown with an intricate pattern of gray, brown, rufous, and black. It favors semi-open habitats and urban areas where is unlikely to be confused with other hawks. But see the dark morph of Short-tailed Hawk and the juvenile of Variable Hawk.

Status: The Harris’s Hawk is common to uncommon in open habitats along the western lowlands of Peru, the Marañon Valley, intermontane valleys of Ayacucho, Apurimac, and Urubamba Valley in Cusco. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, Bo, and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Gavilán Mixto o Acanelado.

Sub-species: Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi), Audubon 1837. W Colombia, W Ecuador and W Peru.
(P. u. unicinctus), Temminck 1824. NE Colombia S through E Bolivia and C & NE Brazil (Maranhão and Ceará).

Meaning of Name: Parabuteo: Gr. Para=alike, close to and Buteo: referring to the genus Buteo, vulture. unicinctus: L. uni= one, single and cinctus, cingere= band strap.

See more of the Family Accipitridae