Bird name:

Roadside Hawk

Buteo magnirostris

Order

FALCONIFORMES

Family

Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)

Code 4

ROHA

Code 6

BUTMAG

ITIS

175387

Breeding Location:

Forests, dense old growth, Forests, dense at high elevations

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Common in range

Egg Color:

White speckled with brown

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

21 - 27

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Sticks

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Roadside Hawk: This small, long legged tropical species common from Mexico to Argentina is casual in winter to the Rio Grande Valley. Gray-brown upperparts and rufous belly with white to buff coarse bars. Tail is banded. Flies with stiff, rapid wingbeats and hunts along roadsides. Female is similar but larger and juvenile is paler overall. Deforestation in the tropics has helped this bird to thrive as it produces more favorable hunting grounds.

Range and Habitat

Roadside Hawk: Tropical species, casual in winter in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Prefers plantations, second-growth woods and field edges. Often perches low on roadside fence posts or trees.

Breeding and Nesting

Roadside Hawk: Two white eggs speckled with brown are laid in a nest built by both sexes of sticks, in trees 20-60 feet above ground. Incubations is 21-27 days primarily by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Roadside Hawk: Eats large insects, reptiles and small mammals which it finds on roadsides and field edges.

Vocalization

Roadside Hawk: Song is a nagging scream, "KREE-yurrr" or "meeahhh."

Similar Species

Roadside Hawk: Broad-winged Hawk has a shorter dark tail with wide white bands. Red-shouldered Hawk juvenile is larger and shows a narrow pale panel across base of outer primaries in flight.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America