Difference between revisions of "Harris's Hawk" - BirdForum Opus

Latest revision as of 02:21, 22 January 2024

Adult of US form
Photo © by destombe
Elfrida, Arizona, USA, December 2006

Includes Bay-winged Hawk

Parabuteo unicinctus

Identification

Subspecies unicinctus
Photo © by Luis R
Caleu. Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile, September 2018

Length 45–59 cm (17¾-23¼ in), WS 107cm (42"), Wt. 900gm (2lb).
Blackish brown plumage with chestnut forewings (above and below) and thighs. The end of the tail and the rump are white, with distinctive black band between.
Females are typically 10% larger than males. Juveniles are similar in appearance, but have streaking common in this family.

Variations

Juvenile "Bay-winged Hawk"
Photo © by Rodrigo Reyes
Location: La Campana National Park, Chile, February 2005

The southernmost form (Bay-winged Hawk) remains streaked on underside and paler, streaked head even as adult, and is fairly pale on underside as juvenile.

Distribution

Back View
Photo © by Francisco Paludo
Curitiba, PR, Brazil, 18 October 2023

Sonoran desert of the southwest USA and Mexico, Baja Penisula, Gulf Coast from central coastline of Texas southward through Mexico to Chile and Argentina. This species is absent from much of eastern South America

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

P. u. harrisi:

Arid south-western US to Pacific slope of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

P. u. unicinctus (Bay-winged Hawk):

East Colombia and Venezuela to Brazil, southern Argentina and southern Chile; this form does not perform the team hunting described below.

An additional subspecies P. u. superior in Baja California, Arizona, Sonora, and Sinaloa is not generally recognised^[2].

Habitat

Sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes.

Behaviour

Diet

An unusual behavior in its family is team hunting; birds will cooperate in taking prey, often taking perches in what seems like a strategic manner to confuse and herd its prey before one of the group strikes. This allows it to take larger prey such as jackrabbits. Teams can comprise 2 to 6 individuals. Other prey includes rodents, lizards, and birds.

Breeding

They nest in a tree; the clutch consisting of 2–4 eggs which are incubated for 28 days.

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Peregrine Fund
Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
Alvaro Jaramillo. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton Field Guides. ISBN 0-691-11740-3
Wikipedia

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Harris's Hawk. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Harris%27s_Hawk

External Links

Search for photos of Harris's Hawk in the gallery

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[Image:Harris_Hawk_in_flight_by_destombe.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Adult of US form<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|destombe|destombe}}<br />Elfrida, [[Arizona]], [[USA]], December 2006]]
+'''Includes Bay-winged Hawk'''
+;[[:Category:Parabuteo|Parabuteo]] unicinctus
+==Identification==
+[[Image:Harris s Hawk3.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Subspecies ''unicinctus''<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|Luis+R|Luis R}}<br />Caleu. Santiago Metropolitan Region, [[Chile]], September 2018]]
+Length 45–59 cm (17¾-23¼ in), WS 107cm (42"), Wt. 900gm (2lb).<br />
+Blackish brown plumage with chestnut forewings (above and below) and thighs. The end of the tail and the rump are white, with distinctive black band between.<br />
+Females are typically 10% larger than males.  Juveniles are similar in appearance, but have streaking common in this family.
+====Variations====
+[[Image:Bay-winged_Hawk_juvenile_by_Rodrigo_Reyes.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Juvenile "Bay-winged Hawk"<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|Rodrigo_Reyes|Rodrigo Reyes}}<br /> Location: [[La Campana National Park]], [[Chile]], February 2005]]
+The southernmost form (Bay-winged Hawk) remains streaked on underside and paler, streaked head even as adult, and is fairly pale on underside as juvenile.
+==Distribution==
+[[File:Harriss_Hawk_Back-View_FRNPAL.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Back View<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|Francisco+Paludo|Francisco Paludo}}<br /> Curitiba, PR, Brazil, 18 October 2023]]
+Sonoran desert of the southwest [[USA]] and [[Mexico]], Baja Penisula, Gulf Coast from central coastline of [[Texas]] southward through [[Mexico]] to [[Chile]] and [[Argentina]]. This species is absent from much of eastern [[South America]]
+==Taxonomy==
-;Parabuteo unicinctus
+====Subspecies====
-[[Image:Harriss_Hawk.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by Gaga]]
+There are 2 subspecies<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup>:
+*''P. u. harrisi'':
+:*Arid south-western [[US]] to Pacific slope of [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]] and [[Peru]]
+*''P. u. unicinctus'' ('''Bay-winged Hawk'''):
+:*East Colombia and [[Venezuela]] to [[Brazil]], southern [[Argentina]] and southern [[Chile]]; this form does not perform the team hunting described below.
-The Harris's Hawk or Harris Hawk, formerly known as the Bay-winged Hawk, (Parabuteo unicinctus), is a medium-large bird of prey which breeds from the southwestern USA south to Chile and central Argentina. It is the only member of the genus Parabuteo (Ridgway, 1874), which literally means 'similar to Buteo'.
+An additional subspecies ''P. u. superior'' in Baja California, [[Arizona]], [[Sonora]], and [[Sinaloa]] is not generally recognised<sup>[[#References|[2]]]</sup>.
-Its habitat is sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes (with some trees) in some parts of its range (Howell and Webb 1994). It nests in a tree and lays 2–4 eggs, incubated for 28 days to hatching.
+==Habitat==
+Sparse woodland and semi-desert, as well as marshes.
+==Behaviour==
+====Diet====
+An unusual behavior in its family is team hunting; birds will cooperate in taking prey, often taking perches in what seems like a strategic manner to confuse and herd its prey before one of the group strikes.  This allows it to take larger prey such as jackrabbits.  Teams can comprise 2 to 6 individuals.  Other prey includes rodents, lizards, and birds.
+====Breeding====
+They nest in a tree; the clutch consisting of 2–4 eggs which are incubated for 28 days.
+==Gallery==
+Click on photo for larger image
+<gallery>
+Image:Juvenile-Harris-Hawk2-Oct-13-09_by_Lisa_W.jpg|Juvenile of US form<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|Lisa_W|Lisa W}}<br /> Roger Road Waste Water Treatment Plant, Tucson, [[Arizona]], [[USA]],  October 2009
+Image:Peuco BF 1.jpg|Immature, Ssp ''unicinctus'', '''Bay-winged'''<br />Photo &copy; by {{user|Luis+R|Luis R}}<br />Parcela Araguaney. Santiago de [[Chile]], July 2016
+</gallery>
+==References==
+#{{Ref-Clements6thAug18}}#Avibase
+# [http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/hawks/harrishk.html Peregrine Fund]
+# Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
+# Alvaro Jaramillo. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton Field Guides. ISBN 0-691-11740-3
+#Wikipedia
+{{ref}}
+==External Links==
+{{GSearch|"Parabuteo unicinctus" {{!}} "Harris's Hawk" {{!}} "Harris Hawk" {{!}} "Bay-winged Hawk"}}
+{{GS-checked}}1
+<br />
+<br />
-It has blackish brown plumage with chestnut forewings (above and below) and thighs. The end of the tail and the rump are white. It has a length of 60 cm and a wingspan of 1.2 m; the average weight is about 900 g (2 pounds). Females are typically 10% bigger than males.
+[[Category:Birds]][[Category:Parabuteo]]
-[edit] The Harris's social behavior
-Harris's Hawks' social behavior is unusual for raptors. Young may stay with their parents for up to three years, helping to raise later broods. They also hunt together, groups of two to six birds often cooperating to flush and then capture prey. In contrast, the vast majority of raptors are solitary hunters, and not at all gregarious.
-Harris HawkThis social behavior gives Harris's Hawks an easygoing nature that makes them desirable captive birds. Since about 1980, Harris's Hawks have been increasingly used in falconry and are now the most popular hawks in the West (outside of Asia) for that purpose, as they are the easiest to train and the most affectionate.
-Hunting with Harris's Hawks often works best with two or more birds. (In contrast most other raptors cannot be flown together, as they will attack each other.) When prey is flushed, the birds can work together to corner the animal – compensating for their relatively low acceleration and speed. Harris's Hawks will happily treat the falconer as a hunting partner, and will follow from tree to tree and perch until the falconer flushes a rabbit from the bushes.
-In the United States desert southwest, Harris's hawks sometimes engage in a behavior called 'stacking'. Two or three birds may perch one atop the other. Researchers note that when this occurs, the more dominant bird is actually the one on the bottom of the stack. The social dynamics are that when a low-status bird is approached by a higher status bird, the low-status bird will abandon a perch. However, a higher status bird will retain its perch, and end up with one or two lower status birds atop it.
-[edit] The Harris's quarry
-The Harris's Hawk can, if trained well, take a wide range of quarry, being able to almost match the Goshawk. They can easily catch and kill a rabbit, a hare or even a pheasant, but its natural prey are small rodents and reptiles.
-==External Links==
-*[http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showgallery.php?mcats=all&what=allfields&si=Parabuteo+unicinctus View more images of Harris's Hawk in the gallery]
-[[Category:Birds]]