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Harris's Hawk

Parabuteo unicinctus

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernVertebratesShrublandPlatform nestLarge · 850 g
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 1
Photo: Alan Vernon · CC BY 2.0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 2
Photo: Fornés Sebastián Fornés · CC BY 4.0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 3
Photo: Hugo Hulsberg · CC0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 4
Photo: Fornés Sebastián Fornés · CC BY 4.0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 5
Photo: Hugo Hulsberg · CC0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 6
Photo: Hugo Hulsberg · CC0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 7
Photo: Fornés Sebastián Fornés · CC BY 4.0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 8
Photo: Flickr user whiskymac (Reg McKenna) · CC BY 2.0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 9
Photo: Flickr user Dave-F (David Friel) · CC BY 2.0
Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), photo 10
Photo: John Rosford · CC BY 4.0

What the Harris's Hawk sounds like

Sonogram of the Harris's Hawk: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Gabriele Magurno · Song · Ezeiza, Ezeiza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

This medium-large hawk is roughly intermediate in size between a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Harris's hawks range in length from 46 to 59 cm (18 to 23 in) and generally have a wingspan of about 103 to 120 cm (41 to 47 in). These hawks have a brownish plumage, reddish shoulders, and tail feathers with a white base and white tip. They exhibit sexual dimorphism with the females being larger by about 35%. In the United States, the average weight for adult males is about 701 g (1.545 lb), with a range of 546 to 850 g (1.204 to 1.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Harris's Hawk

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Harris's Hawk

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 19 countries with regular records, and 8 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States Argentina Chile Peru Mexico Ecuador Uruguay Costa Rica Brazil Venezuela Colombia Honduras Paraguay El Salvador Bolivia Nicaragua Spain Guatemala Singapore

Recorded as a rare visitor in United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Taiwan, Italy, Portugal, Poland.

About the Harris's Hawk

Parabuteo unicinctus is a medium-large bird of prey that breeds from the southwestern United States south to Chile, central Argentina, and Brazil. It contains two subspecies, the Harris's hawk and the bay-winged hawk. The species is also occasionally referred to as the dusky hawk and known in Latin America as the peuco.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

White-rumped Hawk (Parabuteo leucorrhous) White-rumped HawkParabuteo leucorrhousThe white-rumped hawk is 33 to 40 cm (13 to 16 in) long with a 67 to 79 cm (26 to 31 in) wingspan.

Side by side: Harris's Hawk vs White-rumped Hawk

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