Crane Hawk
Where and when to see the Crane Hawk
DraftOn the Yucatán Peninsula
It lives in forest and woodland patches near water, especially by marshes, ponds and lagoons. Look for it low down in trees near the water’s edge.
Where it’s reported most
- Ría LagartosRío Lagartos, Yucatán
- CelestúnCelestún, Yucatán
- EdznáCampeche, Campeche
When
All year · most reports Nov–Mar
Most reports from November to March.
Reports relative to effort
- January: 84%
- February: 85%
- March: 100%
- April: 62%
- May: 80%
- June: 42%
- July: 34%
- August: 43%
- September: 47%
- October: 68%
- November: 96%
- December: 88%
Data: eBird and other datasets via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), 2015–2025 · Base map: Natural Earth
Clambers through trees, reaching into cavities and bromeliads for frogs, lizards and nestlings. Its long legs can bend both ways at the joint, letting it probe holes other hawks can't reach.
- Identification
- A slender, small-headed hawk with very long red-orange legs and red eyes. Birds in Mexico are slate-black. The long tail has two broad white bands, and in flight a white crescent shows near the wingtips.
What the photo doesn’t show
DraftLegs that bend both ways
Its ankle joints bend both ways. That lets it reach deep into tree holes, cracks and bromeliads to pull out lizards, bats, frogs and nestlings. 1,2,3
A twin in Africa
Its closest look-alikes are the harrier-hawks of Africa, which have the same bendy legs and hunt the same way. They are not close relatives: a textbook case of convergent evolution. 1,3
A climber with wings
It rarely soars. Usually it is seen low, perched or clambering and flapping along branches as it gropes for prey. 1,2
Losing ground
Birds of the World reports that it is declining in Mexico and considered on the verge of extinction in El Salvador, mainly because of deforestation. 1
Sources
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab): Crane Hawk (opens in a new tab)
- eBird: Crane Hawk (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Crane hawk (opens in a new tab)
- IUCN Red List category, via GBIF: Geranospiza caerulescens (opens in a new tab)
- DOF, 14/11/2019: NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, Anexo III (opens in a new tab)
Map and months: 1,480 records from 2015–2025 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.
[email protected]