On this site a 'hawk' is any member of the family acciptridae. I do this because 'hawk' can be a very general
term, it can refer to almost any member of the order 'falconiiformes'. Hawks have the most members out of any other raptor
group, with 226 living members. Hawks live all around the world. Deserts, rainforests, forests, scrubs savannahs, and many
more.Hawks, like all true raptors, have curved beaks and hooked talons for catching prey. They are ALL carnivores and with
the exception of most owls, all raptors are diurnal.Hawks include all eagles, buteos (sometimes referred to as the 'Soaring
Hawks'), accipiters, harriers, and kites. All of the hawks are Anisodactylous (see intro). Here
are some brief descriptions of some hawk groups.
Eagles-
There are two groups in North America, Booted eagles (Golden Eagle) and Fish-eagles(Bald Eagle).
Eagles are very large powerful predators. The golden eagle has proportions similar to buteos. Booted eagles (Genus: Aquila) are
more closely related to buteos than the fish ealge group (Genus: Haliaeetus).
Booted and fish eagles are grouped together because of size mainly. Booted eagles are the most evolutionarily advaced
of all raptors except the falcons. There are only two species of breeding North American ealgles, but we do get
vaigrants. The golden eagle is found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Bald Eagles are found only in North America.
There was one case of a vagrant in Europe but was not confirmed as a North American specimen rather than an escapee from falconry,
zoo, or others.
Accipiters-
Forrest dwelling hawks. They have long tails and rounded, short wings for mauverability and quick accelerations. They
are smaller than buteos. The largest species is the Goshawk. They feed mainly on birds but consume mammals too. There
are three North American species: the Cooper's Hawk, the Northern Goshawk, and the Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Buteos-
The buteos are soaring hawks, using their broad tails and fan-shaped wings to soar for a long time.They are the most diverse
of the raptor groups and occupy the most diverse types of habitat too. They are open country to forest dwelling birds. They
eat birds, small mammals, and insects. There are tweleve North American species: the Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered
Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Harris' Hawk, Common Black Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Grey Hawk, White-tailed Hawk,
Rough-legged Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, and the Ferruginous Hawk.
Kites-
Kites are slim and light bodied. They resemble falcons in flight, although not as powerful. They eat reptiles, amphibians,
small mammals, and invertabrates. Many are migratory although there are some sedentary species. They are social during the
mating season. They tend to live in southern areas, closer to the equator.. There are five North American species: the Hook-billed
Kite, Swallow-tailed Kite, White-tailed Kite, Snail Kite, Mississippi Kite.
Vargrants:
Crane Hawk, White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus), Steller's Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus) , Roadside Hawk
(Buteo) , Red-backed buzzard (Buteo) , and the Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo) .
These are species that wander into North America from other countries but do not naturally belong here.
Harrier
The Northern Harrier is the only North American harrier. They are fairly large birds. they have a facial disk that resembles
that of an owl (convergant evolution). They have long wings and a long tail. The northern harrier have a white patch on the
rump. Males and females (northern harrier) have distinct plumages. Immatures look like the adult female. They fly with a dihedral
and they hover. They live in flat terrain, void of trees usually, these are areas like prairies and marshes. There are ten
species of harriers. They eat small mammals, reptiles and frogs. Females eat more rodents and males take more birds.
