Short-tailed Hawk

Buteo brachyurusOrder: FALCONIFORMES Family: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)

Codes: Common Name: STHA Scientific Name: BUTBRA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 175372

Head

Topo Map: Hawk-like Head

Bill Shape: Hooked
Eye Color: Dark brown, especially in Florida where "very dark brown” Lighter brown in juveniles. In contrast, approximately one-third of museum specimens from tropical locales record iris color as yellow, brownish yellow or yellowish brown.
Head Pattern: Plain
Crown Color: Black
Forehead Color: White
Nape Color: Black
Throat Color: Black
Cere color: Yellow

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Body

Topo Map: Hawk-like Body

Length Range: 38-43 cm (15-17 in)
Weight: 453 g (16 oz)
Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
Color: White, Brown
Underparts: Black
Upperparts: Black
Back Pattern: Solid
Belly Pattern: Solid
Breast Pattern: Solid

Flight

Topo Map: Hawk-like Flight

Flight Pattern: Nearly always airborne with flat wings and prolonged soaring.
Wingspan Range: 81-104 cm (32-41 in)
Wing Shape: Broad-Wings
Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
Tail Pattern: Banded
Upper Tail: White with black sub terminal band.
Under Tail: White with black sub terminal band.
Leg Color: Yellow

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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.

Short-tailed Hawk

Short-tailed Hawk: Small hawk of grass and woodland habitat in Florida. Occurs in two color morphs: Dark morph adult is uniformly dark brown with thin dark bands on a dull white tail. In flight shows white flight feathers with thin dark bands and dark wingtips. The light morph has white underparts.

● Song: "keeee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Short-tailed Hawk Dark Morph: Hunts exclusively from the air, dropping out of the sky to catch small birds by surprise, almost never perches except at night. Preys on birds that are on the ground or on the outer branches of trees.

● Breeding & nesting: Short-tailed Hawk Dark Morph: Male supplies sticks for nest, but female does nearly all nest construction. Nests placed high in trees. Lays two to three creamy white to pale blue eggs marked with brown in March or April. Female incubates for 34 days while male brings her food. Fledgling period little known.

● Similar species: Short-tailed Hawk Dark Morph: Dark morph Broad-winged Hawk shows conspicuous dark border around perimeter of wing, and much broader tail bands. Dark morph Swainson's Hawk is darker and much larger with long pointed wingtips.

Flight Pattern

Nearly always airborne with flat wings and prolonged soaring.

● Range & Habitat: Short-tailed Hawk Dark Morph: Found in a wide variety of mixed woodland and grassland habitats throughout the southern two-thirds of Florida.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight16 Ounces

Hawk-like Head

Hawk-like Body

Hawk-like Flight

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