HawksRoadside HawkRupornis magnirostris
- ORDER: Accipitriformes
- FAMILY: Accipitridae
Basic Description
The Roadside Hawk is a bird that grabs your attention, with loud, persistent calls; piercing yellow eyes; and brilliant orange wing patches in flight. Adults vary considerably in appearance, with head color ranging from light gray to dark brown, but all have rufous-and-white barring on the belly and wide black bars on the tail. One of the most common and widespread hawks in the Neotropics, this species is more frequently found perched along roads and forest edges than seen soaring. It preys mainly on insects and small vertebrates.
More ID InfoOther Names
- Busardo Caminero (Spanish)
- Buse à gros bec (French)
- Cool Facts
- Roadside Hawks don't migrate, but they do move around. Since 1979, the species has occurred in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, some 300 km (180 miles) outside its typical range, more than 10 times.
- Ornithologists have sometimes placed Roadside Hawk in the familiar, widespread genus Buteo, but they currently place it alone in the genus Rupornis. This name, which traces back to the mid-nineteenth century, is derived from the Greek words for “dirty bird.”