Roadside Hawk
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Least Concern 3
Where and when to see the Roadside Hawk
DraftOn the Yucatán Peninsula
It is common at forest edges, farmland, roadsides and town outskirts across the peninsula, including Cozumel and Holbox. Look for it on posts and wires, or follow its piercing squeal.
Where it’s reported most
- Cuxtal Ecological ReserveMérida, Yucatán
- MuyilFelipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo
- Kabah Ecological ParkBenito Juárez, Quintana Roo
- Ruta de los CenotesPuerto Morelos, Quintana Roo
When
All year
Reported all year.
Reports relative to effort
- January: 96%
- February: 95%
- March: 88%
- April: 81%
- May: 90%
- June: 97%
- July: 90%
- August: 96%
- September: 95%
- October: 100%
- November: 91%
- December: 91%
Data: eBird and other datasets via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), 2015–2026 · Base map: Natural Earth
The hawk most often seen from the road, perched on poles and low branches at the forest edge. It takes lizards, large insects and small rodents, and calls loudly when disturbed.
- Identification
- A small grey-brown hawk with pale yellow eyes, a yellow cere, a banded tail and fine rufous barring from breast to belly. In flight it shows rufous in the wings, short wings and a fairly long tail.
- Voice
- A very high, piercing squeal, often given from a perch. It is a noisy hawk.
What the photo doesn’t show
DraftWaiting at the edge
Its name comes from its liking for edges. It waits on an exposed perch where forest meets open ground, then drops or glides down onto prey. 1,2
More bugs than mice
Despite the hooked bill, most of what it eats are insects. Reptiles and small mammals make up much of the rest. 1
An island edition
Cozumel and Holbox have their own subspecies, gracilis: a browner, streakier bird than the grey hawks of the mainland. 1,2
An unflattering name
It is the only species in its genus, Rupornis, a name made from the Greek words for “dirt” and “bird”. Its species name, magnirostris, means “big-billed”. 2
Sources
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab): Roadside Hawk (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Roadside hawk (opens in a new tab)
- IUCN Red List category, via GBIF: Rupornis magnirostris (opens in a new tab)
Map and months: 17,633 records from 2015–2026 from eBird, iNaturalist, and others, via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), in 0.1° squares (about 10 km). eBird: doi.org/10.15468/aomfnb.
Months: the species’ records ÷ all bird records that month, scaled to the busiest month. It allows for birding effort; it is not the chance of seeing it. A blank square: few or no reports, not necessarily absent.
Tell us where, or ask how to find one.
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