White-tailed Hawk

How to find it

Start in Guanacaste, where it is most often reported, and scan open ground rather than forest. Across its range it is often seen perched on utility poles, fence posts and trees along roads while it hunts, so roadside scanning is worthwhile. It hunts patiently from high perches, so exposed lookout points over open ground suit it. Look up as well, because it often flies high and can hover facing the wind. Check for the pale tail first, since that stands out at a distance.

How to recognise it

This is a large hawk, about 61 cm long, with broad wings and a broad tail.

The adult has these marks:

- Slate gray above, with rusty shoulders

- White below

- White rump and tail, with a bold black band near the tip

- Yellow legs and a pale green cere

When it soars it holds its wings slightly bent at the shoulder.

Immatures look quite different. They are mostly blackish brown, often with cinnamon scaling on the shoulder. The tail is pale gray with faint darker bars and looks nearly all pale from a distance.

A very rare dark morph is slate gray both above and below.

Behaviour and diet

The White-tailed Hawk is usually solitary. It hunts mammals, birds and reptiles by diving suddenly to the ground or into low vegetation. It perches in trees and shrubs, and on the ground atop open hills. It often flies high and can hover in place facing the wind.

The nest is a stick platform at the top of a savanna tree, with 2 eggs. A nest with two downy chicks was seen near Taboga, Guanacaste, in February.

Where it lives

This is a bird of open country, savanna and farmland. Across its whole range it prefers open or semi-open country with few trees, usually below about 600 m elevation.

In Costa Rica it is a very uncommon resident of the lowlands and foothills of Guanacaste, mostly near the Cordillera de Guanacaste. It is rare, but may be resident in the savannas of the Térraba region in the south. It once occurred in parts of the Central Valley highlands, but there are no recent reports there.

Similar birds

The pale morph of Short-tailed Hawk is smaller and has faint tail bands. Harris's Hawk has rufous thighs and wing linings, and its tail is nearly all dark. Few birds are confused with the White-tailed Hawk in general. Young birds are sometimes mistaken for migrant Red-backed Hawks, which do not reach Costa Rica.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans call it Gavilán Sabanero, the savanna hawk, as well as Gavilán Coliblanco. Both names point to the open savanna country where it lives.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R), and it is very uncommon and local, with a Costa Rican natural history source calling it threatened with extinction nationally.

Photography tips

This hawk hunts patiently from high perches. It scans the landscape, then drops fast on prey. Exposed lookout points over open ground are the places to watch.