Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 18.1–22.8 in
46–58 cm - Wingspan
- 52 in
132 cm - Weight
- 31–43.6 oz
880–1235 g
Other Names
- Buse à queue blanche (French)
- Gavilán coliblanco, Gavilán tejé, Aguilucho cabecinegro (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- Unlike most Buteo hawks, the wing feathers of a perched adult White-tailed Hawk extend noticeably beyond the tail. A juvenile bird has a tail up to 15% longer than an adult, and its wing feathers barely surpass the tip of its tail.
- Occupying discontinuous breeding areas from southern Texas to Argentina, the White-tailed Hawk claims the widest latitudinal distribution (29°N to 44°S) of any Buteo and has successfully colonized several Caribbean islands.
Habitat
Grassland
Open country, primarily savanna, prairie and arid habitats of mesquite, cacti and bushes, very rarely in open forest.
Food
Mammals
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 1–4 eggs
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless and covered in down.
Nest Placement
Tree
Behavior
Soaring
Conservation
Least Concern
Population in Texas seems to be stable or increasing.
Credits
- Farquhar, C. C. 1992. White-tailed Hawk (Buteo albicaudatus). In The Birds of North America, No. 30. (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.