The taxonomy of the gray hawk puts it within in the genus Buteo. This genus consists of hawks, which include the red-shouldered hawk, Swainson's hawk, and others. The genus Buteo is in the sub-family Buteoninae known as "the real hawks", and Buteoninae is within the family of Accipitridae. Accipitridae consist of hawks, old world vultures, kites, harriers, and eagles. This family is within the order Accipitriformes which are the diurnal (active during the day) birds of prey.
The species was originally described by Hermann Schlegel in 1862 as Asturina plagiata. The AOU listed A. plagiata with the common name "Mexican goshawk" in the first four editions of the Check-List of North American Birds, from 1886–1931. By the 1957 fifth edition, it had been merged into Buteo nitidis; but by the 1998 seventh edition all of B. nitidis was separated into the resurrected genus Asturina.
In 2003, Riesing et al. published results of research on nucleotide sequences within the mitochondrial nd6 gene and pseudo-control-region for all species of Buteo and several related species. Among other findings, they recommended that Asturina be merged into Buteo, and concluded that A. nitidis plagiatus was sufficiently different from A. n. nitidis and A. n. costaricensis to be considered a separate species. In 2005, the AOC's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature – North America decided to follow the recommendation to merge the genera, but was not convinced about splitting the species.
The gray hawk was originally Asturina nitida but controversy existed between ornithologists on whether or not this species was closely enough related enough to put it in the Buteo, but chromosomal mapping in 2013 has proved that the gray hawk is within the Buteoninae. Researchers such as de Oliveira, Tagliarini, dos Santos, O'Brien, and Ferguson-Smith proposed in 2011 that the gray hawk should be two different species, because of a slight difference in plumage color and a difference in alarm calls documented in the northern and southern distributional gap in Costa Rica. They suggest that the species is better split into the gray-lined hawk (Buteo nitidus) and the gray hawk (Buteo plagiatus), The American Ornithological Society eventually recognized the split.


The gray hawk averages 46–61 cm (18–24 in) inches in length and weighs 475 g (16.8 oz). This bird has a relatively short wing span, but long tail compared to the red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks. It has broad rounded wings, a hooked beak, and yellow legs. Thompson, L. (1995–2013). It is very distinctive from its smooth pale gray plumage. The tail features are in a horizontal stripped pattern in a white gray white pattern with white at the tips of the tail feathers. The tail feathers have two white bands with one being wider than the other. The sexes are similar in coloration. The adults, both male and female, have a darker gray top side with a lighter gray and white underside. The juveniles have a dark brown topside and a streaked or spotted underside and the tail feathers have numerous dark bands. The juveniles have very obvious bold facial strips and white upper tail coverts, which are the feathers at the base or start of the tail. The juveniles also have a different plumage color due to dominance and they use the dull color for camouflage.


The gray hawk's range is in Northern and Central America, from southern New Mexico, southern Arizona, to central Texas, through Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, to the northern part of Costa Rica.
Its habitat within this range consists of forest edges, river edges, clear cuts, savanna, and agricultural land (4). In their tropical range of the Amazon they tend to prefer a more dry second growth forest.


The gray hawk's main diet is lizards and small mammals, but it will also eat rodents and large insects and some birds. It hunts in brushy areas either from a perch or flight just above the canopy.


The migration pattern of gray hawks depends on the location of the animals' home range. Birds that live in northern Mexico and the south-western United States will migrate, but birds living further south tend to stay in the same area permanently. A few birds in the northern range will stay in the southern part of Texas year round rather than migrating, but this is rare. The birds that migrate north to the south-western United States will migrate in the spring in order to breed. After the breeding season, the birds will begin their journey back south in mid-October to their wintering ranges.


The mating system of the gray hawk is monogamous. During December through May, the breeding season, these birds perform courtship displays (4). The males court the females by rising and falling flight, calls, and nest building. The male and female together will build their stick nest in tall trees, but the male only lays down the foundation while the female will shape the nest (9). The nest is about 60 centimeters across and the female will on average lay 2 to 3 pale-blue eggs per clutch. The female takes care of her eggs incubating them for 33 days; meanwhile the male will capture prey and bring it back to the female. A few breeding pairs nest along the Rio Grande in riparian woods (1). In research conducted from 1995–97 in south-west Arizona, it was found that gray hawks produced an average of 1.32 young per nest between all three years when the study was being conducted (8). The chicks will begin fledging in 6 weeks and both males and females won't hit sexual maturity until they are least 2 years of age.


The call of the gray hawk consists of long mournful whistles thoooooweeo, hoooooweeo.


The broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) is a medium-sized hawk of the genus Buteo. During the summer, some subspecies are distributed over eastern North America, as far west as British Columbia and Texas; they then migrate south to winter in the Neotropics from Mexico south to southern Brazil. Other subspecies are all-year residents on Caribbean islands. As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males. Broad-winged hawks' wings are relatively short and broad with a tapered, somewhat pointed appearance. The two types of coloration are a dark morph with fewer white areas and a light morph that is more pale overall. Although the broad-winged hawk's numbers are relatively stable, populations are declining in some parts of its breeding range because of forest fragmentation.


The broad-winged hawk is a relatively small Buteo, with a body size from 32 to 44 cm (13 to 17 in) in length and weighing  265 to 560 g (9.3 to 19.8 oz). The tail is relatively short, measuring 14.5–19.0 cm (5.7–7.5 in) in length. The tarsus measures from 5.6 to 6.6 cm (2.2 to 2.6 in). As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males. Broad-winged hawks have relatively short and broad wings, pointed at the end, which have a tapered appearance unique to the species. The wingspan can range from 74 to 100 cm (29 to 39 in), with the extended wing bone (standard measurement) measuring 22.7–30 cm (8.9–11.8 in).
An adult's body is a dark brown with a white belly and chest containing horizontal barring. Its tail can be a dark grey-black with white lines along the middle, base, and tip. The young hawks have a slightly different coloring with more white and longitudinal barring instead of horizontal barring. The two types of coloration are a dark morph with fewer white areas and a light morph that is more pale overall. The light morph of this bird is most likely to be confused with the red-shouldered hawk, but it has a longer, more heavily barred tail and wings with a solid rufous color in the adult, which are usually distinctive. Rare dark morphs are a darker brown on both upperparts and underparts. Dark-morph short-tailed hawks are similar, but are whitish under the tail with a single subterminal band.


Broad-winged hawks have a wide range in North America and South America, from southern Canada to southern Brazil. Their breeding range is in the northern and eastern parts of North America, and some migrate in the winter to Florida, southern Mexico, and northern South America. Five subspecies are endemic to the Caribbean and do not migrate.  Those subspecies that do migrate fly in flocks of more than 40 up to several thousand at heights from 550 to 1,300 m (1,800 to 4,270 ft). They soar using thermals to carry them through their journey of 3,000–6,000 km (1,900–3,700 mi). Fall migration lasts for 70 days as birds migrate about 100 km (62 mi) per day from North America, through Central America to South America without crossing salt water. The enormous flocks of soaring broad-winged hawks are termed kettles and are characteristic of many hawk migration spectacles in North America, such as at Hawk Cliff in Ontario, Hawk Ridge in Minnesota, Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania, and the River of Raptors in Veracruz.
Broad-winged hawks stay in areas up to an elevation around 2,000 m (6,600 ft). They breed in deciduous forests good for nesting and forage primarily in wetlands and meadows. While some birds have acclimatized themselves to living near humans, even those birds avoid human settlements and interactions. In the winter, the migrating subspecies of the hawks seek out similar conditions to their overwintering home, so they settle in deciduous and mixed forests.
Although it is declining in some areas because of forest fragmentation, its numbers are relatively stable and is assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.


Broad-winged hawks are carnivores. The types of food they eat depends on the time of year. During the summer or nesting season the parents and ultimately their chicks  eat small animals such as chipmunks, shrews, and voles, frogs, lizards, and sometimes even other nesting birds like cardinals. In the winter, they have been observed feeding on insects, frogs, snakes, crabs, and small mammals. To catch their prey, broad-winged hawks watch from low branches, hiding in the foliage, until a target is spotted. From their roost they  do a short, fast glide to capture the prey. They give special attention to preparing their food for consumption, skinning frogs and snakes and plucking prey birds' feathers. Most small mammals, though, are eaten whole. They rarely drink water and are able to survive solely with the water present in their prey.


These birds have only one mate during the breeding season, possibly because the male also helps a small amount with the rearing of the chicks. They breed between April and August, starting when they reach sexual maturity at about two years old.
To attract and court females, the males perform a courtship display flight including cartwheels, dives, and other aerial acrobatics. Birds meet in the air, hook their feet together and spiral down together. They also compete and fight with other males for the chance to mate with a female. If one of the males is successful, the mating pair has only one brood that season, consisting of one to four eggs.
Both the male and female build the nest out of sticks and twigs in a deciduous tree. Once laid, the brown-spotted eggs are typically 49 mm × 39 mm (1.9 in × 1.5 in) and weigh about 42 g (1.5 oz). The female then develops a brood patch and incubates the eggs for 28 days or longer before they hatch.
The hatchlings will appear semialtricial, incapable of any complex coordination, but have open eyes and are covered in down feathers. Chicks have rapid body growth until they are almost at adult body size, when they are capable of walking, flying, and eating without parental help. While in the nest, the female gives most of the parental care, protecting and providing food for the chicks. The male may provide some food for the female and offspring, but his visits are short lived.
Once a prey item is obtained for the nest, the female tears off pieces and feeds the chicks until they are able to rip meat off on their own. Often, the chicks fight for possession of the offered morsel, the younger ones usually losing and not getting enough.
Broad-winged hawks protect their nests in a show of aggression (i.e. diving and chasing) towards any suspected threat, but they generally do not make physical contact. Predators of eggs and nestlings include raccoons, crows, porcupines, and American black bears. Adults have been known to fall to red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, bald eagles, and golden eagles. The hatchlings need 5–6 weeks before they are able to leave the nest. Some young, even after that time, remain in the area of the nest for several weeks more.


The ferruginous hawk (ferruginous = from Latin ferrum – iron, ferrugin-, iron rust, iron-rust color – reddish-brown), Buteo regalis (Latin, royal hawk), is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. An old colloquial name is ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related rough-legged hawk (B. lagopus).
This species is a large, broad-winged hawk of the open, arid grasslands, prairie and shrub steppe country; it is endemic to the interior parts of North America. It is used as a falconry bird in its native ranges also high above land.


This is the largest of the North American Buteos and is often mistaken for an eagle due to its size, proportions, and behavior. Among all the nearly thirty species of Buteo in the world, only the upland buzzard (B. hemilasius) of Asia averages larger in length and wingspan. The weight of the upland buzzard and ferruginous broadly overlaps and which of these two species is the heaviest in the genus is debatable. As with all birds of prey, the female ferruginous hawk is larger than the male, but there is some overlap between small females and large males in the range of measurements. Length in this species ranges from 51 to 69 cm (20 to 27 in) with an average of 58 cm (23 in), wingspan from 122 to 152 cm (48 to 60 in), with an average of about 139 cm (55 in), and weight from 907 to 2,268 g (32.0 to 80.0 oz). Weight varies in the species relatively restricted breeding range. In the southern reaches of the species breeding range, i.e. Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, males average 1,050 g (37 oz), in a sample of fifteen, and females average 1,231 g (43.4 oz), in a sample of four. In the northern stretches of the breeding range, in southern Canada, Washington, Idaho and North Dakota, the hawks are heavier averaging 1,163 g (41.0 oz) in males (from a sample of 30) and 1,776 g (62.6 oz) in females (from a sample of 37). Upland buzzard average weights were intermediate between those body mass surveys, notably heavier than the first and less heavier than the latter one, particularly the sample of 37 ferruginous hawk females place it as the most massive type of Buteo in northern populations.
Adults have long broad wings and a broad gray, rusty, or white tail. The legs are feathered to the talons, like the rough-legged hawk. There are two color forms:
Light morph birds are rusty brown on the upper parts and pale on the head, neck, and underparts with rust on the legs and some rust marking on the underwing. The upper wings are grey. The "ferruginous" name refers to the rusty color of the light-morph birds.
Dark-morph birds are dark brown on both upperparts and underparts with light areas on the upper and lower wings.
There are no subspecies.


The male and female have identical markings. The main difference is size, with the female being somewhat larger. Perched birds have a white breast and body with dark legs. The back and wings are a brownish rust color. The head is white with a dark streak extending behind the eye. The wingtips almost reach the tip of the tail.
The underside is primarily light colored with the dark legs forming a "V" shape. The reddish upper-back color extends to the inner wing-coverts or "shoulders." The primary remiges (pinions) are dark gray with conspicuous light "windows" in the inner primaries. Three prominent light areas on the upper surface stand out as two "windows" on the outer wings and a rufous rump mark, perhaps the most significant feature of a flying ferruginous hawk. The underwings are whitish overall with rufous markings, particularly in the patagial area. This gives a smudgy appearance to the wings, but less dark than in a red-tailed hawk. The ferruginous hawk is noticeably longer winged than a red-tailed hawk, although the wings appear slenderer than the latter species the total wing area of the ferruginous is considerably more. However, the Red-tail can be nearly as bulky and heavy. Dark "comma"-shaped markings are prominent at the wrists. The ferruginous hawk is one of the only two hawks that have feathers that cover their legs down to their toes, like the golden eagle. The other is the rough-legged buzzard (Buteo lagopus). The pale morph of the closely related but more slender rough-legged species is best distinguished by its darker coloration, with a broad black tail band and a dark band across the chest. The dark morph Rough-leg is more a slaty coloration than the more brownish dark morph ferruginous. Swainson's hawks and especially rough-legged buzzards can be nearly as long-winged but are less bulky and heavily built than the ferruginous. Among the normal standard measurements, the wing chord measures 415 to 477 mm (16.3 to 18.8 in), the tarsus measures 81 to 92 mm (3.2 to 3.6 in) and the tail measures 224 to 252 mm (8.8 to 9.9 in). Additionally, the grasp is 94 to 125 mm (3.7 to 4.9 in) and the third toe 29.5 to 45 mm (1.16 to 1.77 in), indicating that the ferruginous hawks has the largest and most robust feet of any of the world's Buteos. Compared to other Buteos, the ferruginous has a larger bill, at 37.6 to 49.5 mm (1.48 to 1.95 in), with a much wider gap when the bill is opened, at 42.7 to 57 mm (1.68 to 2.24 in).
In-flight, these birds soar with their wings in a dihedral.


The preferred habitat for ferruginous hawks are the arid and semiarid grassland regions of North America. The countryside is open, level, or rolling prairies; foothills or middle elevation plateaus largely devoid of trees; and cultivated shelterbelts or riparian corridors. Rock outcrops, shallow canyons, and gullies may characterize some habitats. These hawks avoid high elevations, forest interiors, narrow canyons, and cliff areas.
During the breeding season, the preference is for grasslands, sagebrush, and other arid shrub country. Nesting occurs in the open areas or in trees including cottonwoods, willows, and swamp oaks along waterways. Cultivated fields and modified grasslands are avoided during the breeding period. The density of ferruginous hawks in grasslands declines in an inverse relationship to the degree of cultivation of the grasslands. However, high densities have been reported in areas where nearly 80% of the grassland was under cultivation.
The winter habitat is similar to that used during the summer. However, cultivated areas are not necessarily avoided, particularly when the crops are not plowed under after harvest. The standing stubble provides habitat for the small-mammal prey base needed by ferruginous and other hawks. One requisite of the habitat is perches such as poles, lone trees, fence posts, hills, rocky outcrops or large boulders. Ferruginous hawks nest in trees if they are available, including riparian strips, but the presence of water does not appear to be critical to them.
The ferruginous hawk maintains minimum distances from other nesting raptors but will nest closer than necessary, suggesting that the distance is not fixed. The "nearest neighbor" distance has varied from less than 1.6 km (1 mi) to as much as 6.4 km (4 mi) with an average of 3.2 km (2 mi). Nests facing different hunting territories are tolerated much closer than nests facing the same hunting territory. The minimum distance between nests is probably about one half mile on densely occupied areas. Nesting densities in several studies have varied from one pair per 10 to 6,345 km² (4 to 2,450 sq mi). In Alberta, on one study site, there was a stable density of one pair per 10 km² (4 sq mi), on average with little deviation from this mean. In Idaho, the average home range for four pairs of ferruginous hawk in the Snake River area was slightly over 5.2 km² (2 sq mi).


The flight of the ferruginous hawk is active, with slow wing beats much like that of a small eagle. Soaring with the wings held in a strong dihedral has been noted, as well as gliding with the wings held flat, or in a modified dihedral. Hovering and low cruising over the ground are also used as hunting techniques. The wing beat has been described as "fluid" by some observers.
Conflicts over territories, food and nest-defense have been reported with several other large species of raptor, such as the great horned (Bubo virginianus) and short-eared owl (Asio flammeus), hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), red-tailed and Swainson's hawks (Buteo swainsonii), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), accipiters (Accipiter), ravens (Corvus), and magpies (Pica). Among native raptorial birds, only larger eagles and similarly sized great horned owls can regularly outmatch this large and powerful hawk. While bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) normally only harass ferruginous hawks to pirate food from them, the golden eagle can be a serious killer (in potential territorial or defensive conflicts) and predator of the ferruginous. Although they may be attracted to similar nesting habitat, in a local comparison in northwestern Texas, southwestern Oklahoma and northeastern Arizona, the typical prey taken by Swainson's hawks was quite different, being about half the weight of that of the ferruginous hawk and more focused on insects rather than mammals. However, in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, the prey taken by red-tailed hawks and ferruginous hawks was almost exactly the same, both in terms of species and body size. The prey species hunted by golden eagles are often similar, but the ferruginous hawk is locally less of lagomorph specialist where it co-exists with eagles and takes typically smaller prey, such as pocket gophers, which are generally ignored by the eagles. It seems to be quite tolerant of conspecifics from adjacent territories.


The ferruginous hawk primarily hunts small to medium-sized mammals but will also take birds, reptiles, and some insects. Mammals generally comprise 80–90% of the prey items or biomass in the diet with birds being the next most common mass component. The diet varies somewhat geographically, depending upon the distribution of prey species, but where the range of the ferruginous hawk overlaps, the black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) is a major food species along with ground squirrels and pocket gophers. Depending upon the relative abundance of jackrabbits and ground squirrels, the latter could become the major food source. Mammalian prey can range in size from tiny shrews and small bats to the black-tailed jackrabbit, weighing much more than a ferruginous hawk. Common prey items are:
Rodents:
Richardson's ground squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii)
thirteen-lined ground squirrel (S. tridecemlineatus)
antelope ground squirrel (Ammospermophilus)
prairie dog (Cynomys)
kangaroo rat (Dipodomys)
Northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides)
voles (various species)
mice (white-footed and others)
muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)
pocket mouse
Other mammals:
Long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata)
snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus)
Birds:
Horned lark (Eremophila alpestris)
Western meadowlark
Sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus)
Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
Gray partridge (Perdix perdix)
Chukar (Alectoris chukar)
Ducks
Northern harrier
Short-eared owl
Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia)
Long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus)
Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia)
Reptiles:
bull snake (Pituophis catenifer)
yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor)
garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Insects:
grasshoppers
crickets
carabid beetles
a few other larger insects

These birds search for prey while flying over open country or from a perch. They may also wait in ambush outside the prey's burrow. Hunting may occur at any time of the day depending upon the activity patterns of the major prey species. A bimodal pattern of early morning and late afternoon hunting may be common. The hunting tactics can be grouped into seven basic strategies:
Perch and Wait – perching is on any elevated natural or man-made site
Ground Perching – the hawk will stand on the ground at a rodent burrow after initially locating it from the air. As the burrowing animal reaches the surface, the hawk rises into the air and pounces upon it even while it is still underneath the loose earth.
Low-level Flight – birds will course over the landscape within a few yards of the ground and pursue in direct, low level chases, or they will hunt from 12 to 18 m (40 to 60 ft) above the ground.
High-level Flight – birds will hunt while soaring, but the success rate is generally low.
Hovering – using quickened wing beats, often in times of increased winds, the birds will search the ground and drop on the prey.
Cooperative Hunting – mates have been known to assist each other.
Piracy – the ferruginous hawk has been observed gathering around a hunter shooting prairie dogs, and to claim shot "dogs" by flying to them and mantling over them.
In its "strike, kill, and consume" type of predation, the prey is seized with the feet and a series of blows may be meted out, including driving the rear talon into the body to puncture vital organs. Biting with the beak may also take place. Before bringing prey to the nest, the adults will often eat the head. At the nest, birds are plucked and mammals torn into pieces before being fed to the young. Food caching has been noted, but not generally near the nest.


Copulation occurs during and after nest building. The egg-laying period varies with latitude, weather, and possibly food supply. In the Canadian parts of the range, laying occurs from the latter part of April through late June, whereas farther south laying occurs from about March 20 through mid May. The earliest recorded clutch was in January in Utah and laying could occur as late as July 3 in Canada. Egg-laying occurs at two-day intervals with incubation starting when the first egg is laid. Incubation is shared by both sexes with each taking approximately the same number of shifts during the 32-day average incubation period. Replacement clutches following failure appears to be rare.
Courtship flights seem to be limited in the accepted sense. Both sexes engage in high, circling flight but literature details are sketchy. Soaring activities may primarily be variations on territorial defense flights as opposed to courtship per se. The "flutter-glide" flight consists of a series of shallow, rapid wing beats interspersed with brief glides and may serve to advertise the territory. The "sky-dance" is stimulated by an intruder and consists of slow flight with deep, labored wing beats with irregular yawing and pitching that may terminate in steep dives. In the "follow-soar" maneuver, the male ferruginous hawk will fly below an intruder and escort it out of the territory.
High perching occurs from prominent places around the nest, particularly early in the breeding cycle. Aggressive actions such as attacking, talon-grasping, and pursuit have been noted by some observers. Copulation begins before construction of the new nest, and increases in frequency until the start of egg laying. The passing of food may occur before the activity. The duration of copulation is from four to 18 seconds.
The ferruginous hawk is one of the most adaptable nesters of the raptors, and will use trees, ledges, rock or dirt outcrops, the ground, haystacks, nest platforms, power poles, and other man-made structures. Within some broad categories such as cliffs, the variety includes clay, dirt and rock substrates. Tree nests are typically in isolated trees or isolated clumps of trees in exposed locations. Authors differ as to whether ground nests are more successful than tree nests, but they are more susceptible to mammalian predation. Nest locations are reused frequently, but several nests may be built in an area. Typically, one or two alternate nests may exist but up to eight have been found on some territories.
The nests are made of ground debris such as sticks, branches, and cattails. Old nests will be refurbished, or nests of other species may be taken over and refurbished with sticks being added on top of the old nests. Odd items such as paper, rubbish, barbed wire, cornstalks, plastic and steel cable have been incorporated into nests. Bark from trees and shrubs will be used for lining along with grasses and cow dung. Bits and pieces of greenery are often added to the nest. Prior to the removal of the bison from this bird's range, nesting material often included bison bones, fur and dung. Both sexes are involved with building the nests and bringing materials, but the male seems to be more involved in retrieving materials while the female arranges them in the structure.
Clutch size varies from one to eight and is likely linked to food supply. The average clutch is three to four eggs, each 64 mm (2.5 in) long and 51 mm (2 in) wide. They are smooth, non-glossy and whitish in color, irregularly spotted or speckled and blotched with reddish-brown markings. There may be a concentration of darker pigments at the small end of the egg. Occasionally, the eggs are almost unmarked or have faint scribblings on them.
The nestling period varies from 38 to 50 days with brooding primarily by the female. Males fledge at 38 to 40 days and the females as late as 50 days after hatching, or 10 days later than their male siblings as they take longer to develop. Nestlings lie or sit for the first two weeks, stand at about three weeks and walk soon after. By 16 or 18 days, they are able to feed on their own. Wing flapping starts about day 23 and by day 33 the young are capable of vigorous flapping and "flap jumps." The nestlings are sensitive to high temperatures and seek shade however possible in the nest.
Initial movement out of the nest is felt to be a response to heat stress as the young quickly move towards shade. The initial flight for the males is taken at 38 to 40 days while the slower-developing females fly about 10 days later. Post-fledging dependency upon the parents may last for several weeks. During the first four weeks after fledging, the young patrol increasingly large areas around the nest as they learn to hunt. Young hawks have killed prey as early as four days after fledging.
The ferruginous hawk is single-brooded, and as in so many raptors, the number of young reared is tied closely to food supply. In areas where jackrabbit populations are the principal food source, the initial clutch sizes and the number of reared young vary closely with variations in the number of jackrabbits. Fifty percent loss of young has been reported in low jackrabbit years. Fledging rates of 2.7 to 3.6 young per nest have been reported during years of abundant food supply. The high potential clutch size allows for a quick response to increases in the prey base.
Ferruginous hawks have been known to live for 20 years in the wild, but most birds probably die within the first five years. The oldest banded birds were recovered at age 20. First-year mortality has been estimated at 66% and the adult mortality at 25%. The reasons for mortality include illegal shooting, loss of a satisfactory food supply, harassment, predation, and starvation of nestlings during times of low food supply. Ground nests are susceptible to predation by coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions while nestlings, fledglings and adults may be preyed upon by great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles and golden eagles.


At times the ferruginous hawk has been considered threatened, endangered, or of concern on various threatened species lists but recent population increases in local areas, coupled with conservation initiatives, have created some optimism about the bird's future. It was formerly classified as a Near Threatened species by the IUCN, but new research has confirmed that the Ferruginous hawk is common and widespread again. Consequently, it was downlisted to Least Concern status in 2008.
Declines are mostly due to loss of quality habitat. Although flexible in choosing a nest site and exhibiting a high reproductive potential, this bird's restriction to natural grasslands on the breeding grounds and specialized predation on mammals persecuted on rangelands may make conservation a continuous concern. Historically, the birds entirely disappeared from areas where agriculture displaced the natural flora and fauna; for example it was noted in 1916 that the species was "practically extinct" in San Mateo County, California. Studies have found that prairie dogs can be a main prey item for ferruginous hawks, linking them to the populations of prairie dog towns in the mid-west and southwestern United States, which have been declining in recent years. This bird may also be sensitive to the use of pesticides on farms; they are also frequently shot. Threats to the overall population include:
cultivation of native prairie grassland and subsequent habitat loss
tree invasion of northern grassland habitats
reductions in food supply due to agricultural pest management programs
shooting and human interference
The ferruginous hawk was on the National Audubon Society's "Blue List" of species felt to be declining. From 1971 to 1981 it retained its "blue" status, and from 1982 to 1986 it was listed as a species of "Special Concern." The United States Fish and Wildlife Service placed it in a category of "undetermined" in 1973, and various states have placed it in categories of "Threatened" or "Endangered." In Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada considered this species "Threatened" in 1980.
Across the Canadian prairies, the range was diminishing up until 1980, and at that time, birds were felt to be occupying 48% of its original range. Numbers were generally felt to be diminishing and a total Canadian population was estimated at 500 to 1000 pairs. By 1987, population increases were being noted, and the Alberta population alone was estimated at 1,800 pairs. The upswing was likely due to a greater availability of food on the wintering grounds, making the birds more likely to breed when they returned to Canada. In the United States, there has been a history of concern for this species in many states with declines noted, but in 1988, one study suggested that the population in California and locally elsewhere may have increased significantly. The wintering population north of Mexico was estimated at 5,500 birds in 1986. In 1984, the population estimate for North America was between 3,000 and 4,000 pairs, and in 1987, it was 14,000 individuals.
Toxic chemicals have not been suggested as a significant threat to the ferruginous hawk. Management strategies must include the retention or reclamation of native grasslands for breeding as well as on the wintering grounds. Maintenance of high populations of prey species in wintering areas seems critical to the hawks' abilities to move onto the summer range in breeding condition. The integration of agricultural practices and policies into the management strategies is a crucial component of any overall scheme for conservation. The provision of nesting platforms has had positive effects and should be a part of local strategies. Public education and the elimination of persecution and human disturbance must be an important part of the overall conservation program.


The ferruginous hawk is a well-regarded falconry bird, though not recommended for beginners due to its large size, power, and aggressive personality.  For the experienced falconer it offers an opportunity to experience the nearest equivalent to hunting with the golden eagle with much lower risk of injury to the falconer by the hawk.  Faster and stronger than the red-tailed hawk, the ferruginous hawk is effective in pursuit of larger hares and jackrabbits that are difficult prey for the red-tailed hawk and Harris's hawk, and with its agility is also more effective on large bird species than is the golden eagle.


The long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus) is a bird of prey found widely in several parts of Eurasia and in North Africa. This species ranges from Southeastern Europe down to East Africa to the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The long-legged buzzard is a member of the genus Buteo, being one of the larger species therein. Despite being relatively powerful,  it is considered a rather sluggish raptor overall. Like most buzzards, it prefers small mammals such as rodents, including gerbils, ground squirrels, voles and rats, also taking reptiles, birds and insects as well as carrion. Adaptable to a variety of habitats, long-legged buzzards may nest on a variety of surfaces, including rocks, cliffs and trees. it is a typical buzzard in its reproductive biology. The long-legged buzzard is widely distributed and appears to be quite stable in population. Therefore, it is considered as Least Concern by the IUCN.


This is a large and fairly sturdy Buteo. The long-legged buzzard possesses a relatively large bill on a smallish head, long wings and a rather long tail and relatively long legs with powerful feet. The species tends to be considered sluggish, perching openly and prominently and in rather upright positions on a rock, crag or similar vantage point with a good commanding view; they will also perch regularly on artificial raised points such as pylons or utility poles. The long-legged buzzard also often takes to standing on the ground where it walks slowly, often waddling somewhat. This species is highly variable in plumage, with three to four main morphs. The adult pale morph long-legged buzzard has a rather plain pale head, coloured creamy rufous to light sandy with at most a few darker streaks on the crown and a dark line through an eye, usually with a more solidly dark nape. The pale morph possess dark brown upper parts with sandy buff streaks against a more conspicuous sandy-brown mantle and wing coverts with dark feather-eters causing a contrasting effect. The pale morph adult's tail is light rufous-orange. The paleness of the head in light morphs continues down to breast, the lower part of which having pencil thin streaks, while the belly down to flanks and trousers is a darker rufous-brown. Meanwhile, the intermediate adult are similar to pale adult but with somewhat richer colour, darker and more rufous upperparts and having a slightly darker and more patterned breast. The rufous morph, arguably separate from the intermediate, is more ochracecous overall and a darker rufous on the dark parts of the plumage against the more contrasting pale head. Some rufous adult long-legged buzzards can show a greyish tail with some banding and at times a darker subterminal band. Dark morph adults are all blackish-brown to black with some whitish streaks on nape. The tail of dark morphs are gray to brown-grey with a broad subterminal band and 7 rather narrow and faint bars although many completely lack the latter bars. Juveniles of the pale, intermediate and rufous morphs are similar to the respective adults of their morphs but tend to possess neater, paler edging above, especially on the tips of the greater and median coverts. Also the juveniles are more streaky about the head and breast with tail going from pale whitish darkening outwards to grey-brown with irregular faint brown bars. Dark morph juveniles are less dark than the adult of that morph, sometimes evidencing a small paler patch on breast. The juvenile dark morph long-legged buzzard's tail pattern differs from the dark adult, generally browner than adult with 3 very broad bands and a slightly broader subterminal band but dark morph juvenile tails apparently very variable. Juvenile plumage lasts up to 2–3 years when first breeding occurs. Adults have very dark brown eyes, while the eyes of juveniles are pale grey to greyish yellow turning light brown before darking. The cere and legs are both dull yellow.
In flight, the long-legged buzzards appears as a mid-sized rather broad-bodied raptor. Possessing an almost eagle-like silhouette, it tends to appear with a protruding head with a somewhat heavy bill, long broad wings with fairly straight edges and only slightly tapering hands with rounded five-fingered end. It is relatively long-tailed with the tail having a fairly rounded shape. Juveniles tend to be slimmer looking with narrower wings and more S-shaped trailing edges as well as a somewhat longer tail. Long-legged buzzards tend to fly with comparatively slow, deep beats and to have a relatively slow flight. The species glides with their arms raised and hands more level, wings noticeably kinked at carpals and soars in wide circles with the wings in shallow dihedral. The upward bent tips can enhance their eagle-like appearance. Long-legged buzzards often hover frequently and for extended periods. In the flight, the whitish based orangey tail often looks all white at a distance and to stand out in its paleness against the dark rear body and the rear wings. The primary coverts and many greater coverts are blackish in adult long-legged buzzards with the greater coverts pale tipped. Adults are dark grey on the flight feathers with blackish bars radiating outwards on wingtips and on the trailing edges. The underwing coverts are usually lightly streaked with rufous in pale adults, while intermediate adult has a stronger contrast from pale head and breast to darker, browner upperbody and wing coverts, breast and wing linings. The flying rufous adult tends to look more uniform above with colours varying from ochre to tawny to darker rufous brown and to possess richer coloured darker parts, with the tail very variable in rufous morph. Dark adult in flight may appear with or without a pale nape patch. Dark morph long-legged buzzards above evidence pale bases to primaries, some less dark individuals showing slight contrast of brown-tinged wing coverts against blacker carpal areas with grayish cast to secondaries but tail more obviously pale and greyer and variable. Below dark morph adult striking contrasting from dark body and underwing coverts against pale flight feathers. Juvenile long-legged buzzards are evidently more streaky in pale, intermediate and rufous morphs with differing wing shape. Juveniles of the 3 morphs have comparatively uniform secondaries above with a paler based hand, the inner four primaries being thinly barred, the whitish tail becoming greyer brown and appear indistinctly barred distally. The trailing wing edges are more diffuse, greyer and narrower than on adults with a dark line often evidence along greater coverts. Dark morph juveniles in flight even more uniform above without darker trailing edges above and below greyish secondaries are much duskier-looking with broader but diffuse barring and often markedly wide trailing edges, this increasing the contrast against the dark tipped whitish hand.


This is one of the largest species of the Buteo genus. Only two species, the upland buzzard (Buteo hemilasius) and the ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis), notably exceed the average and maximum weight of nominate long-legged buzzards or attain similar wingspans, but several other species of the genus broadly overlap in body size with the long-legged buzzard (for instance the Galapagos, rufous-tailed and red-tailed hawks and the Augur, rough-legged and jackal buzzards). Length can range from 50 to 66 cm (20 to 26 in) and wingspan from 112 to 163 cm (3 ft 8 in to 5 ft 4 in). Mean wingspan may be about 145 cm (4 ft 9 in), with wingspans surely rivaling the upland buzzard as the greatest of all Buteo. The long-legged buzzard displays the typical size sexual dimorphism in favor of females, as they may be to 15% larger and can average up to 30% heavier. The mean body mass of males is 1,035 g (2.282 lb), amongst a sample of 8 with weights ranging from 590 to 1,281 g (1.301 to 2.824 lb), while the mean was 1,315 g (2.899 lb), in a sample of 11 ranging from 945 to 1,760 g (2.083 to 3.880 lb). Meanwhile, the weights of migrating long-legged buzzards migrating in Eilat were 1,182 g (2.606 lb) in mature buzzards and 1,047 g (2.308 lb) in second-year juveniles. The measurements of live Indian long-legged buzzards were 1,000 to 1,300 g (2.2 to 2.9 lb) with slighter lengths of 46 to 55 cm (18 to 22 in) and wingspans of 129 to 150 cm (4 ft 3 in to 4 ft 11 in). Among standard measurements, nominate subspecies males attain a wing chord of 405 to 459 mm (15.9 to 18.1 in) while the female attains a wing chord of 428 to 496 mm (16.9 to 19.5 in). In males the tail may measure 204 to 244 mm (8.0 to 9.6 in) while the female may measure 223 to 262 mm (8.8 to 10.3 in). In tarsal length, males may measure 83 to 93 mm (3.3 to 3.7 in) while females attain 87 to 96 mm (3.4 to 3.8 in). In the nominate race, the culmen from the cere is 23.4 to 30 mm (0.92 to 1.18 in) in both sexes, with an average of 27.9 mm (1.10 in) in migrants at Eilat. Mature migrants in Eilat measured from 24.8 to 32.1 mm (0.98 to 1.26 in), averaging 27.8 mm (1.09 in), on the enlarged hallux-claw.


Paler individuals of the long-legged buzzard are typically reasonably distinctive but their highly variable plumage leads to mistaken identity. The main confusion is with the even more variable common buzzard (Buteo buteo), principally of the steppe subspecies, which breeds and migrates in often similar areas. Steppe buzzards are told apart by various features of plumage, i.e. darker head and chest with a contrasting paler breast band, fully barred and darker uppertails, less distinct carpal patch both above and below, more contrasting wing lining with median coverts paler, with the greater covert darkest. Due to much variation in plumage, steppe buzzards often not reliably distinguished and in distant sightings best told apart by their smaller size and differing proportions. The steppe buzzard is distinctly smaller, of more compact build and possess a distinctly shorter wings and tail than nominate long-legged buzzards. Furthermore, the steppe buzzard has a more pronounced head but less protruding bill and flies with faster but stiffer and less flexible beats. Furthermore, steppe buzzards tend to fly with flatter wings in a glide and less pronounced dihederal without tips pointed up. Dark morphs of the respective species are so similar that they must be told by size, proportions and flight actions. Especially hard to tell apart from the steppe buzzard is the smaller North African subspecies. In Asia the long-legged buzzard is similar to the upland buzzard, which averages slightly bigger in size but is somewhat narrower winged. Typically the upland species has a large white patch on the hand above, with a uniform looking greyish white tail (with at most 2-3 dark bars only visible at close range), darker, more earthen brown on the breast and thighs and lacks the long-legged's typical warm, rufous tones. In dark morph upland buzzards, though they may manifest some darker ground colour on under secondaries and sometimes show pale U on breast but otherwise almost identical in appearance to dark morph long-legged buzzards. The only other Buteo that can be potentially confused with the long-legged buzzard is the migrant rough-legged buzzard (Buteo lagopus) which is similar in size, proportions and flight behaviour, extending to hovering (however the rough-legged is marginally smaller in size with shorter legs and a shorter bill). The rough-legged buzzard should be told apart from the long-legged by having a distinctive white based tail with a broad dark subterminal band as well as fully feathered legs, Juvenile rough-legged buzzards lack the dark underwing diagonals of many juvenile long-legged buzzard. The long-legged buzzard is potentially confusable with other medium or large unrelated species of raptor from outside of the Buteo, including multiple species of small to mid-sized eagle and two species of honey buzzard. However, all of these usually tend to have a number of distinctive morphological, especially the proportion and shapes of their wings, head and tail and flight actions, as well as plumage features that tend to easily separate them from even the most similarly hued and sized of long-legged buzzards.


The long-legged buzzard inhabits arid areas of northern Africa, southeastern Europe, west and central Asia east to China, and down to as far as central India. The farthermost western part of their breeding range is in west Africa, in Western Sahara, extreme northern Mauritania, much of Morocco west to northern Algeria (spottily elsewhere in the nation), Tunisia and northern Libya (mainly northwestern parts). Long-legged buzzards occur accidentally in several other parts of Africa. In mainland Europe, they mainly nest in the southeastern region. Nesting long-legged buzzards have been known in eastern Hungary, central and eastern Ukraine, southern Moldova, southern and far eastern Romania, southern Serbia and more broadly in Bulgaria and somewhat so in northern Greece. Recent sightings indicate that there is a small population in the Apulian region of south-eastern Italy. Similarly, increasing records of long-legged buzzards are known in far southern Spain with the first nesting occurring in Gibraltar in 2009. The recent colonization Europe due to the climate in southern Europe becoming more suitable for this species. Vagrant accidental long-legged buzzards have been documented several times in many parts of Europe, including Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Out of Europe in the eastern Mediterranean or Asia Minor, the long-legged buzzard is one of the most continuously found and abundant breeding resident raptors, being distributed throughout all of Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The range continues into southwestern Russia up to about Saratov and Orenburg.
It is also widely and regularly distributed through much of the Middle East, residing almost throughout Syria, Lebanon, Israel, as well as the northern central parts of both Iraq and Iran. More uncommonly the breeding ranges extends into Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The range continues almost throughout Central Asia, residing in essentially all of Turkmenistan (including broadly along the Caspian Sea coast), Uzbekistan, all but the northern stretches of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and northern and central Afghanistan. The breeding range discontinues in Northwestern China but isolated breeding was documented in the Kashmir region, perhaps straddling both Pakistan and India. During times of passage, long-legged buzzards have been seen more broadly in areas such as the Arabian Peninsula, southern Iraq, western China and northeast Africa, with those that breed in Europe, Russia and Central Asia often departing their breeding grounds for the winter. The wintering areas of migrating long-legged buzzards extend through much of lower Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent including southern Afghanistan, much of Pakistan and northern India through to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Seldom vagrants have been recorded to as south as Sri Lanka, northern Burma and the Andaman Islands. Less consistent wintering populations may live from central Sudan and Eritrea, northern South Sudan, much of Ethiopia, into far northeastern Uganda and central Kenya, seldom into far northern Tanzania.


The long-legged buzzard inhabits open, uncultivated areas, with high bushes, trees, cliffs or hillocks are favoured as nesting areas as well as access to freshwater. The species normally lives in steppe, semi-desert and desert edge, barren rocky landscapes, dry shrubland and sometimes sea coasts. More irregularly, the species will adapt to woodland as long as plentiful openings are available. As a whole slightly hilly plains are ideal nesting areas. In a study in Iran, 41% of long-legged buzzards were on open plains with low vegetation, 29% on plains with somewhat taller vegetation, 12% were in mountain areas and 18% were in cultivated lands. While long-legged buzzards predominantly forage in wildlands, they are also adaptable to cultivations, pastures, village outskirts and sometimes even heavily farmed areas. Grasslands are often predominantly utilized during winter. Those wintering in the Indian subcontinent largely use similar arid open plains, semi-deserts and cultivated areas but perhaps surprisingly are considered a characteristic wintering raptor of dry mixed forests with open glades and barren hill slopes. In the Indian subcontinent, the species may often be seen using a variety of perches including bushes, hedges, Acacia nilotica, sand dunes, haystacks, mounds and power poles. The North African and Arabian race may reportedly show a strong preference for open wooded and/or rocky areas but has been reported in a similarly broad amount of habitats as the nominate subspecies. The species may occur from sea-level up to about 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in Europe, but in Asia uncommonly lives in mountains at elevations of up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) or even 3,900 m (12,800 ft) with migrants recorded to 5,000 m (16,000 ft). Younger birds disperse north of breeding grounds and there are records from Northern Europe. The breeding population in Greece is around 60 pairs. Reforestation in the Judean Hills in Israel and the West Bank is increasing potential interspecific conflict for other raptors in the vicinity.


The long-legged buzzard is a member of the Buteoninae subfamily, of origin in the Americas. The genus Buteo, with nearly 30 species (one of the most diverse genera of diurnal raptors), radiated through Eurasia and Africa, relatively recently in the subfamily’s evolutionary history. The most similar extant species and once thought both of as conspecific and to be part of a superspecies is the upland buzzard. However, a genetic study indicated that the long-legged and upland buzzards do not bear a strong genetic relation and the species are by and large allopatric. The upland buzzard abuts the range of long-legged buzzards from Tarbagatay to northwestern Mongolia south to Dzungaria. Evidence has been found of extensive hybridization between the two species. Although the common buzzard is not considered closely related either, hybridization has also been reported between recently appearing long-legged buzzards in Gibraltar and the common buzzards, as well as in the Great Hungarian Plains. Additionally, little-known buzzards (once thought to be part of the common buzzard) living on the respective islands of Socotra and Cape Verde have been found to be more closely related to the long-legged buzzard if not necessarily conspecific.


Although frequently described as sluggish, the long-legged buzzard appears by most accounts to be a fairly active and powerful predator. This species often hunts by pounces on unwary prey from a variety of lookout perches. Long-legged buzzards, like many Buteo, regularly still-hunt, using tallish or high perch sites or mounds, spending long periods of time scanning the ground. Regular perch sites while hunting may include power poles, pylons, powerlines, boulders, rocky outcrops and dead and sometimes live trees. They also will watch for prey whilst standing on the ground, sometimes right by the entrance of a prey's burrow. No less often, they may hunt on the wing from hovering or active flight. During hunting on the wing they often hang in the air, at up to about 30 m (98 ft) above the ground, for sometimes several minutes, before dropping steepwise and making a short stoop. It is likely that the habitat being used and dictating availability of perches or sloping land from which to watch the ground dictate the variations in hunting modes seen in this species. Often the preferred hunting habitat is fairly open including upland steppe, arid semi-desert and cultivated fields. Occasionally they've been recorded in small towns as engaging in "stampeding" of pigeons resting on ledges, crevices and under the eaves of old buildings by suddenly flying up using the cover of the buildings and catching them as they rise. Long-legged buzzards are known to visit jungle or grass fires in order to capture displaced prey, often engaging in this along with other raptors. The long-legged buzzard has a fairly typical diet for a Buteo, having a generalist opportunistic diet overall, but with a preference for small mammal prey. Somewhat more so than many Buteo species, long-legged buzzards tends to take a great number of reptiles as prey, from fairly small to quite large sizes as well. More secondary prey types include birds, insects, other invertebrates and very rarely other types of vertebrates. The dietary biology of the long-legged buzzard is rather less well-documented than that of common buzzard, even in the European portion of their range, still nearly 200 prey species have been described for it. Staple prey, i.e. vertebrates, for long-legged buzzards taken generally fall in body mass between 20 g (0.71 oz) and 1,500 g (3.3 lb). Scavenging for carrion is not uncommon in long-legged buzzards, having been reported extensively on dog (Canis lupus familaris) carcasses in Romania, however carrion seems to be only regularly ingested during the non-breeding season.
In one of the westernmost dietary studies, in the Ukraine, 450 mammalian prey remains found, with 565 total prey items (5.3% birds, 8.3% reptiles, 0.2% amphibians and 6.5% beetles). Main prey here were common vole (Microtus arvalis), averaging an estimated 25 g (0.88 oz) and constituting 48.4% of the diet by number and 12.59% of the biomass and the greater mole-rat (Spalax microphthalmus) and Podolsk mole-rat (Spalax zemni), both averaging an estimated 215 g (7.6 oz) and collectively comprising 22% of the diet by number and 49.2% of the biomass. Other important prey were speckled ground squirrels (Spermophilus suslicus) with the larger mammalian prey being very young European hare (Lepus europaeus) at 500 g (1.1 lb) and adult European hamsters (Cricetus cricetus) at 443 g (15.6 oz), on average. Different Ukrainian study found a predominance of greater mole-rats in the diet, with these constituting 44.5% of the diet by number, rodents altogether making up 77.5% of the foods. Meanwhile, the diet in this second Ukrainian study showed an unusual profusion of bird prey, making up 22.3%. The diet in the Hungarian Hortobágy Plains were found surprisingly among 94 prey items that 69.1% of the diet was beetles, with the European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) most frequent mammal at 19.1%. Elsewhere in Hungary, European ground squirrels were dominant in the diet in Dobruja while outside in Slovakia's Eastern Slovak Flat, the diet almost entirely based upon common vole but only reportedly when the voles were at the peak of their population cycle. Further study on the Great Hungarian Plains seems to reinforce the importance as elsewhere in eastern Europe of common voles and European hamsters in the diet of long-legged buzzards. In southeastern Bulgaria, among 189 prey items, Microtus species made up 22.2% of the diet, European ground squirrels were at 18.6%, brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) at 10.6%, European water vole (Arvicola terrestris) at 8.5% and Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata) at 4.76%. In Bulgaria, 68.8% of the diet was mammalian, 13.23% reptilian, 9% avian, 7.41% arthropods and other vertebrates the remaining balance, with prey varying in size from invertebrates weighing a fraction of a gram to mammals of up to 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) such as young European hare and non-native muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus). Long-legged buzzards in northeastern Greece were found to be highly reliant on the European ground squirrel which comprised 21.2% of 268 prey items there. Most other prey were largely unidentified but included Orthoptera (10.8%) Scolopendra species (10.8%), snake sp. (8.2%), Lacerta sp. (7.83%) and common voles (7.46%).
The long-legged buzzard population in Georgia was found to live off of very small mammals. For instance, in Kvernaki Ridge, of 223 prey items, the main prey identified to species was social vole (Microtus socialis) (at 27.35%) and house mouse (Mus musculus) (at 7.17%), followed by assorted unidentified rodents (nearly 15% of diet) and Lacerta sp. (7.17%) and Caucasian agama (Paralaudakia caucasia) (4.93%). In the uplands of Ninotsminda, 244 prey items were recorded to feed mostly on unidentified small rodents, especially voles, as well as larger European water vole (7.78%) and identified common voles (5.74%). In both study areas of Georgia, mammals comprised just over 59% of the total remains, unidentified insects comprised 18.4% and 22.5% of prey numbers, birds 6.3% and 13.5% of the diet and reptiles 16.2% and 4.52% of the diets, respectively. It appears in Armenia that their diet was very reptile based, mostly small to medium-sized lizards but even the remains of a Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca) were reported. On the isle of Cyprus, 559 prey total prey items were found by combination of observation, prey remains and pellets. The main prey here by far were black rats (Rattus rattus) at 46.3% of the diet and starred agama (Stellagama stellio) at 30.4%. Overall in Cyprus, 49.1% of the diet was mammalian, reptiles more than 40%. Young rats, agamas and Schneider's skinks (Eumeces schneiderii) were well represented in the Cyprus diet, rendering an estimated rough two-thirds of the diet to consist of small prey weighing 100 g (3.5 oz) or less. However, a not inconsiderable amount of prey weighing in the range of 500 g (1.1 lb) were taken including young European hares, large whipsnake (Dolichophis caspius) (at 5% of the diet by number) and birds such as chukar (Alectoris chukar) and common wood pigeon (Columbus palumbus).
Accompanying food studies of the long-legged buzzards were conducted in the Israeli Judean Hills. Among 1239 total prey items from 32 nests here, the primary prey appeared to be Schneider's skinks at 16.3% and starred agamas at 14.6%, with an old study finding rock doves or feral pigeons (Columbus livia) the most significant at 19.6% of 561 prey items (pigeons were 10.7% amongst the 1239 prey items). Overall the Judean Hills long-legged buzzards preferred reptiles, at 47.2% of the foods, and birds, at 32.2%, rather strongly over mammals, 18.3%, which is not unexpected in the region's semi-desert environment. The predominant prey in Jordan was reportedly the fat sand rat (Psammomys obsesus) followed by again the starred agama and generally appeared not dissimilar from the diet of the species on Cyprus. On the Arabian Peninsula, long-legged buzzards were reported to feed mostly on the largish Uromastyx lizards, but also took hares, birds, and carrion. In northern Iran's Khar Turan National Park, 34 remains seemed to be predominantly represented by unidentified hares, occasionally supplemented by birds, tortoises and smaller mammals like Meriones and Gerbillus species. In southwestern Iran, 100 estimated prey items found by combination of prey remains, pellets and video recordings. The main prey were Caucasian squirrels (Sciurus anomalus) at 29.85% by number, 39.4% by biomass (with an estimated mean mass of 300 g (11 oz) and mature adult agamas such as brilliant ground agamas (Trapelus agilis), large-scaled agama (Laudakia nupta) (both estimated at 300 g (11 oz) when taken and small-scaled agama (Paralaudakia microlepis), these three comprising 30.3% of the diet collectively and 36.5% of the prey biomass. Several snakes like spotted whipsnakes (Hemorrhois ravergieri) were also taken frequently here.
While the diet is reasonably well studied in the European, eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern areas, farther east the diet is largely incidentally known, from secondary observations and rarely quantitatively analyzed (while the North African populations are almost entirely unknown in terms of dietary biology). In the East Kazakhstan Region, two long-legged buzzard nests were found to primarily contain the remains of contained the remains of Tamarisk gerbil (Meriones tamariscinus) and red-cheeked ground squirrels (Spermiphilus erythrogenys). A study in the Kalmykia region of Russia found that about 100 prey items of long-legged buzzards consisted of by diverse prey and less based in small mammals or lizards than other regions. The most frequent identified prey here were unidentified larks, at 18% of the diet by number and 4.7% by biomass, while very young juvenile European hare, at estimated mean of 400 g (14 oz) body mass, were second in number, at 9%, and primary in biomass at 21.8%. Other significant prey here were social voles, at 9% by number as well, and adult rooks (Corvus frugilegus), at a mean mass of 460 g (1.01 lb) comprising 15.7% of the biomass. In northeastern China, the diet was fairly well studied, albeit in a somewhat small study. Of 50 prey items, here great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) led the diet at 48%, followed by Tartar sand boa (Eryx miliaris) (18%), cape hare (Lepus capensis) (6%), goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) (6%) (likely but not certainly taken to the nest as carrion) and Mongolian finch (Bucanetes mongolicus) (6%). Overall mammals made 60% of the diet, reptiles 22% and birds 18%. The diet in the Indian subcontinent is quite diverse, with prey often observed to be taken consisting of small mammals, being up to 85% of the diet, with primary prey often being Indian desert jird (Meriones hurrianae) in arid areas and voles and pikas in highland areas. Lizards are significant, especially Indian spiny-tailed lizard (Saara hardwickii) and agamas, as well as snakes and various other prey.


The long-legged buzzard occurs over a broad range across Eurasia. They often co-exist in several areas with the steppe subspecies of the common buzzard. Little is known how the two co-exist, but the long-legged buzzard is known to be more of a bird of open and rocky habitat rather than wooded edge, nesting often on or about rocks rather than in trees. Both the common and long-legged buzzards are often highly opportunistic but the long-legged buzzard is liable to take a variety of small mammals such as mole-rats, hamsters, ground squirrels, rats and various reptiles such as lizards and to be generally less strongly reliant on voles as prey. It was documented in northeastern Greece that the two species often engaged in interspecific conflicts around the nests, with the common buzzard comprising the largest percent of aggressive interactions documented for long-legged buzzards, at 10 out of 47 such interactions. In their distribution, long-legged buzzards often share relatively open, sunny and partially arid habitats and prey extensively with a number of other raptors, from smaller, weaker harriers of about three species to larger more powerful eagles such as eastern imperial eagles (Aquila heliaca) and steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis), as well as quite often saker falcons (Falco cherrug) It was documented that the long-legged buzzard was the most significant nest constructor for nesting saker falcons in Kazakhstan, with the falcons usually using old or alternate buzzard nests. Nesting habitat often coincides with and prey is somewhat similar to the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo), as in Bulgaria where they can even nest in the same groves, but the much larger eagle-owl can seldom be said to compete directly given its nocturnality. Evidence in the Judean Foothills shows that the long-legged buzzard is competing with the short-toed snake eagle (Circateus gallicus) there. Although there were differences in the diet, the short-toed taking more snakes, the long-legged buzzard more lizards and birds, with partitioning in primary hunting times, the long-legged buzzard fared well in interactions being the swifter and often more aggressive raptor than the somewhat larger eagle.
The long-legged buzzard appears to occupy an intermediate position in the food guild of medium to large diurnal raptors in steppe, meadows, plateaus and coastal areas, in keeping with its body size (which is large for a buzzard but smaller than many species of eagle that it is obligated to share habitats with). There is little information on their position except for their place in the food chain. Their main predator appears to be Eurasian eagle-owls. Although no predation acts have been documented in Bulgaria, in many other mutual parts of the range, long-legged buzzards have turned up in the diet of the powerful eagle-owls. Other larger raptors birds are known to occasionally hunt down long-legged buzzards as well. These have been documented to include eastern imperial eagles, steppe eagles and Bonelli's eagles (Aquila fasciata). A few raptorial birds have also turned up at different times in the diet of long-legged buzzards as well and, compared to the common buzzard, the lesser studied long-legged buzzards may be more prone to interspecific killings from the number reported despite their being relatively few prey studies. Among the raptorial birds documented as apparent prey of long-legged buzzards are Eurasian sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus), levant sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes), short-toed snake eagle, barn owl (Tyto alba), European scops owl (Otus scops), little owl (Athene noctua), long-eared owl (Asio otus ), short-eared owl (Asio flammeus), common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) and red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus). Mammalian carnivores are also known to be occasional prey for long-legged buzzards as well, including least weasels (Mustela nivalis ) and marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna) as well as, although these are more likely taken either while young or as carrion, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and European wildcats (Felis silvestris).


The long-legged buzzard is, as is typical for Buteo and accipitrids, usually rather solitary outside of the pair bond. However, occasionally forms very loose breeding groups, at times several as close as 300 m (980 ft) or in the same crag. It is also slightly gregarious sometimes in passage in small groups, rarely traveling in large flocks. The long-legged buzzard’s aerial display similar but less well documented than that of the common buzzard. They tend to engage in mutual high circling, with both sexes diving at each other. Additionally, an impressive sky dance is sometimes undertaken by the male in which he circles before plunging on part closed wings, swooping up again, after which he may engage in tilting or even looping the loop at the zenith, drops nearly vertically, repeating dance one or more times. Territories are fairly large for long-legged buzzards. In Ukraine, there was an estimated per pair occupancy of about 120 km² (46 sq mi) while in Kazakhstan, in an area of 100 km² (39 sq mi), there an estimated mean of 2.8 nesting pairs.
The breeding season of the long-legged buzzard can fall at variable times of the years. In Europe, it tends to breed from March to July. Similarly phenology of breeding is reported in Armenia and even in Iraq. In the United Arab Emirates, a nest with eggs which must have been laid in December was reported, with pair occupancy lasting to at least March. In Morocco, nuptial displays begin in January and February, peaking in March, with egg laying usually from March to April in the northern part of the country and from February to April in southern part. Elsewhere in North Africa, breeding seems to fall somewhat earlier from February to March, with possibly fledging completed by the month of May. The nesting period in Pakistan is about March to July, but records of eggs as late as June may refer to second or replacement clutches being laid. The nest is a large pile of sticks and branches, typically lined with green leaves, twigs, straw and wool. Nests are fairly large structures, averaging around 71 to 99 cm (28 to 39 in) in diameter, as in Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, respectively, but could easily exceed 1 m (3.3 ft) across in some cases. The average depth was 20 and 49 cm (7.9 and 19.3 in), ranging in Bulgaria and Kazakhstan from 15 to 100 cm (5.9 to 39.4 in) in depth.
Often this species nests are located on a cliff ledge, crag or low rocks, often in fairly shaded relative to the often sunny environs. In Kazakhstan, more than 75% of 53 nests were on such ledges or in granite niches, with a further 11% on power poles, 8% in trees and 4% on high hills less frequently nest ground, in a tree or steep slope or old large bird nest. In Cyprus, of 22 nests, only 1 was in a tree, while the rest were a variety of cliffs from sea cliffs to mountainous areas of around 1,100 m (3,600 ft) elevation. All known nests in northwestern China as well as in southwestern Iran were located on cliffs. In Bulgaria, in the absence of natural rocks, the long-legged buzzards largely adapted to nesting alongside manmade quarries rather than use trees. Nesting locations were exceptional then in the Ukraine where most (85.7%) were built in oak trees, with one additionally placed in a pear tree. Data from the Volga region of Russia also suggests that tree nesting is common for the species there, especially in Malus apple trees. Additionally, the few known nests from Pakistan have appear to be located in trees such as Abies firs or junipers. Some nests along the perimeter of old buildings have been documented as well. At times the long-legged buzzard will use the old nest of another species, apparently largely ravens such as common ravens (Corvus corax) or brown-necked raven (Corvus ruficollis). Nests are frequently reused in subsequent years and added to over time.
The long-legged buzzard may lay a variably sized clutch. Typically 2 to 4 eggs are laid but from 1 to 6 egg clutches have been documented. The average clutch size in the Ukraine was 2.7, in a sample of 8. The same clutch size mean was reported in Cyprus as well. The average clutch size in North Africa was reported (in a sample of 57) as 2.54. The clutch size in northwestern Iran averaged 3. In northwestern China, the mean clutch size was 3.3. The eggs are slightly rough, oval and largely whitish with a yellowish tint and a few wart like projections, with indistinct gray-brown to reddish brown markings, which tend to fade at the pointer tip of the oval. The average egg sizes in the Ukraine, Armenia and northwestern China were 59.5 mm × 46.9 mm (2.34 in × 1.85 in), 60.3 mm × 47.2 mm (2.37 in × 1.86 in) and 56 mm × 43 mm (2.2 in × 1.7 in), respectively. Egg heights ranged from 53 to 63 mm (2.1 to 2.5 in) and diameter ranged from 42 to 49.5 mm (1.65 to 1.95 in), while in Armenia eggs weighed 72.9 g (2.57 oz) on average and in China they weighed 68.2 g (2.41 oz). Incubation appears to last for about 28 to 30 days.
Upon hatching, the young are expectedly semi-altricial. The brood size averages about 2.3. The chicks initially have fine white down at first and then develop a second down coat with white to creamy white. The chicks are brooded considerably, especially by their mother for about 30 days, after which she may resume hunting. Fledgling of the chicks may occur at between 40 and 46 days of age for the young buzzards. The dependence period after they leave the nest can be relatively prolonged for a temperate-zone raptor, reaching perhaps a month in total. Breeding success rates are relatively quite poorly known in long-legged buzzards, with many sources failing to find extensive data on this topic. Data from Cyprus shows the nesting success varying greatly, perhaps based on food supplies, with an annual mean success rate varying from 46% to 93%. In northwestern China, the mean number of fledglings per nest was 0.7 while the mean fledged from successful nests was 1.4. The maximum estimated mean productivity per pair in Israel was about 0.96.


Some declines have been reported in western Russia and generally the long-legged buzzard may be somewhat less numerous than they once were in the more western parts of the range. On the other hand, since the 1990s, there have been recent increases reported in Europe, mainly Bulgaria, where expanding population and post-breeding dispersals have enlarged their range in Hungarian steppes. In 1990s, the estimated population in the Western Palearctic was between 5000 and 15,000 pairs while by 2015 the estimated population where was 11,800-19,200 pairs breeding pairs. The following estimates show from the smaller numbers of the 1990s to the generally higher estimated numbers by 2015. There are an estimated 800-1500 pairs nesting in western Russia, 200-750 pairs occurring in Bulgaria and about 60-300 pairs in Greece and 50 pairs in the Ukraine, with fewer in Albania and a few other countries. Europe contains less than a quarter of the global population and the declines from historic numbers were still over 30%, so the long-legged buzzard is considered locally a Vulnerable species in Europe. Furthermore, about 500 pairs are estimated to nest in Israel, as recorded after slight population depletions due largely to pesticide use in the 1950s. The Turkish population is ample at 1000-10,000 pairs, probably 3000-6000; with about 1000-2500 in Azerbaijan. Additionally, numbers are considered unchanged in Armenia. There are less well known populations and trends in North Africa, with perhaps 400 pairs in Tunisia, 1000 or more pairs in Morocco. A small number nest in the Arabian Peninsula. Arabia has thought to experience a 5% decline in long-legged buzzard populations, perhaps due to overly extensive conversion of habitat to farmland and stone quarries. Saudi Arabia holds about 600 pairs, Oman and Yemen both about 100 pairs and the United Arab Emirates about 5 pairs. Fewer figures still are available from Asia, where the species is considered uncommon to rare in Pakistan, slightly more common in Kashmir and variously rare to uncommon in northwestern China and Turkmenia. Good habitat and strong circumstantial evidence of strong continuous breeding pairs in Central Asia has led to a projected fairly ample but poorly documented population in this region.


The jackal buzzard (Buteo rufofuscus) is a fairly large African bird of prey.   The taxonomy of this species has caused some confusion in the past and it almost certainly belongs in a species complex with other African Buteo species. Some taxonomists have considered this species, the Archer's buzzard, and the augur buzzard to be the same superspecies.  Many taxonomists consider them all to be distinct, having different calls, different home ranges and variations in plumage.  This is a species that lives among mountains, and on adjacent savanna and grassland. It is resident and non-migratory throughout its range.


The jackal buzzard is endemic to southern Africa. Despite its limited range, it is a fairly common species of raptor. It inhabits most of South Africa, with an absence at some of the north-central part but common in the Transvaal. Thence the range extends in the west up to central Namibia and in east through Lesotho and Eswatini into south Mozambique and, to the west, in extreme southeast Botswana. This is largely a mountain-dwelling species, but can range low rocky outcrops and rubble at sea-level to high mountainous in Lesotho up to 3,500 m (11,500 ft). It can adapt to both desert-like, arid conditions and areas with high rainfall and verdant plant life. Mostly it prefers to be close to grassland in which to execute most of its hunting. Although quite common and adaptable, jackal buzzards are not infrequently endangered by large man-made objects such as wind turbines, power-lines and steep-sided, massive reservoirs, in addition to poisoning of carcasses (targeted at jackals).


Pairs have noisy aerial displays, including outside the breeding season. However the aerial display of the pair on territory tends to be much less dramatic than that of the augur buzzard, usually confined to circling or gentle stooping. The breeding season peaks in July to December, but can range from as early as from May to as late as March. The large stick nest is built in a tree or on a crag, and is often reused and enlarged in subsequent seasons. At first construction the nest with average about 60 to 70 cm (24 to 28 in) across and 35 cm (14 in) deep but easily can exceed 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter with repeated uses. Two creamy or bluish white eggs (or very rarely three) are laid at about three day intervals and incubated by the female only, although food is brought to her on the nest by the male. A surveys of egg sizes show they average 60.7 mm × 47.7 mm (2.39 in × 1.88 in) with a range in height of 57 to 64.9 mm (2.24 to 2.56 in) and in diameter of 45 to 50 mm (1.8 to 2.0 in). The eggs hatch in about 40 days, after a further 56–60 days they can attempt flight. The parents will attack intruders, including humans, who come too close to the nest. Siblicide has been widely reported but, presumably when food supply is ample, nests often produce two fledglings. At 70 days they become independent of the nest, but young birds may then be seen with the adult pair for some time. As in other tropical raptors compared to temperate-zone relatives, the breeding cycle is relatively elongated and clutch size relatively small in the jackal buzzard compared to temperate-zone Buteo species.


The diet of the jackal buzzard is led mainly by small ground mammals, especially rodents. Other prey may include snakes, lizards, ground-feeding birds such as sandgrouse and gamebirds (or alternately the nestlings and fledglings of other birds), insects, and road-kills. Typically, this raptor still-hunts by dropping on its prey from a perch, often either trees or roadside poles or posts. It takes its prey almost exclusively on bare ground, including roads. It also may hunt by soaring or periodically hovering or hanging on updrafts. A study from Grahamstown, South Africa found the prey around nest to consist of assorted rat species (21 items), four-striped grass mouse (8 items) and two golden moles. On evidence, the jackal buzzard mainly takes small mammals during the nesting cycle and then switches to a largely carrion-based diet during the non-breeding season. Jackal buzzards have been recorded at various carrion, including many sheep and goat carcasses and placenta, as well as largely road-killed hares, springhares, springboks and steenboks. Despite being often recorded at carrion, the numerous scavengers in their range, largely vultures, jackals and occasionally hyenas, are larger and often aggressive towards other scavengers. Therefore, the jackal buzzard either only comes to carrion when other scavengers are done feasting or are entirely absent. They have an advantage in being less shy towards humans than larger birds of prey and scavengers and may be able to come to road-kills more quickly and may also gain an advantage in accessing large carcasses that they may not be able to penetrate without larger scavengers opening them up first. Larger and/or more dangerous live prey recorded to be taken by jackal buzzards has included adults of birds such as francolins and marsh owls, adult puff adders, adult greater cane rats and largely or exclusively the young of various mongoose, monitor lizards and Cape hyraxes.


The adult common black-hawk is 43–53 cm (17–21 in) long and weighs 930 g (33 oz) on average. It has very broad wings, and is mainly black or dark gray. The short tail is black with a single broad white band and a white tip. The bill is black and the legs and cere are yellow. The adults resemble zone-tailed hawks, but have fewer white bars on their tail and are larger in size.
Sexes are similar, but immature birds are dark brown above with spotting and streaks. Their underparts are buff to whitish with dark blotches, and the tail has a number of black and white bars.


The common black-hawk is a breeding bird in the warmer parts of the Americas, from the Southwestern United States through Central America to Venezuela, Peru, Trinidad, and the Lesser Antilles. It is a mainly coastal, resident bird of mangrove swamps, estuaries and adjacent dry open woodland, though there are inland populations, including a migratory population in north-western Mexico and Arizona.


The savanna hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis) is a large raptor found in open savanna and swamp edges. It was formerly placed in the genus Heterospizias. It breeds from Panama and Trinidad south to  Bolivia, Uruguay and central Argentina.


Butomus umbellatus is native to Eurasia and was first found in Canada in the late 1800’s and in the United States in the early 1900’s. The first discovery in North America was in the St. Lawrence River in 1897. The species was unintentionally introduced into the United States’ Great Lakes through the discharge of contaminated cargo ship ballast water.
This plant spreads mostly from its rhizomes and occurs in wet areas with muddy soil, such as freshwater marshlands, lakes and streams. Butomus umbellatus will out compete native vegetation. It can also create dense root structures that become hazards for boat traffic. It is tolerant of a wide range of temperatures which gave it the potential to invade across much of the United States.
Butomus umbellatus is listed as a prohibited species in Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, and as a restricted species (but still available) in Wisconsin


The striated heron (Butorides striata) also known as mangrove heron, little heron or green-backed heron, is a small heron, about 44 cm tall. Striated herons are mostly non-migratory and noted for some interesting behavioral traits. Their breeding habitat is small wetlands in the Old World tropics from west Africa to Japan and Australia, and in South America and the Caribbean. Vagrants have been recorded on Oceanic islands, such as Chuuk and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marianas and Palau; the bird recorded on Yap on February 25, 1991, was from a continental Asian rather than from a Melanesian population, while the origin of the bird seen on Palau on May 3, 2005 was not clear.
This bird was long considered to be conspecific with the closely related North American species, the green heron, which is now usually separated as B. virescens, as well as the lava heron of the Galápagos Islands (now B. sundevalli, but often included in B. striata, e.g. by BirdLife International); collectively they were called "green-backed herons".


Adults have a blue-grey back and wings, white underparts, a black cap, a dark line extends from the bill to under the eye and short yellow legs. Juveniles are browner above and streaked below.
These birds stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, but are easier to see than many small heron species. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic insects. They sometimes use bait, dropping a feather or leaf carefully on the water surface and picking fish that come to investigate.
They nest in a platform of sticks measuring between 20–40 cm long and 0.5–5 mm thick. The entire nest measures some 40–50 cm wide and 8–10 cm high outside, with an inner depression 20 cm wide and 4–5 cm deep. It is usually built in not too high off the ground in shrubs or trees but sometimes in sheltered locations on the ground, and often near water. The clutch is 2–5 eggs, which are pale blue and measure around 36 by 28 mm.
An adult bird was once observed in a peculiar and mysterious behavior: while on the nest, it would grab a stick in its bill and make a rapid back-and-forth motion with the head, like a sewing machine's needle. The significance of this behavior is completely unknown: While such movements occur in many other nesting birds where they seem to compact the nest, move the eggs, or dislodge parasites, neither seems to have been the case in this particular striated heron.
Young birds will give a display when they feel threatened, by stretching out their necks and pointing the bill skywards. How far this would deter predators is not known.
Widespread and generally common, the striated heron is classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN; this holds true whether the lava heron is included in B. striata or not.


The green heron is relatively small; adult body length is about 44 cm (17 in). The neck is often pulled in tight against the body. Adults have a glossy, greenish-black cap, a greenish back and wings that are grey-black grading into green or blue, a chestnut neck with a white line down the front, grey underparts and short yellow legs. The bill is dark with a long, sharp point. Female adults tend to be smaller than males, and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season. Juveniles are duller, with the head sides, neck and underparts streaked brown and white, tan-splotched back and wing coverts, and greenish-yellow legs and bill. Hatchlings are covered in down feathers, light grey above, and white on the belly.
The green heron's call is a loud and sudden kyow; it also makes a series of more subdued kuk calls. During courtship, the male gives a raah-rahh call with wide-open bill, makes noisy wingbeats and whoom-whoom-whoom calls in flight, and sometimes calls roo-roo to the female before landing again. While sitting, an aaroo-aaroo courtship call is also given.
Measurements:
Length: 16.1–18.1 in (41–46 cm)
Weight: 8.5 oz (240 g)
Wingspan: 25.2–26.8 in (64–68 cm)


The habitat of the green heron is small wetlands in low-lying areas. The species is most conspicuous during dusk and dawn, and if anything these birds are nocturnal rather than diurnal, preferring to retreat to sheltered areas in daytime. They feed actively during the day, however, if hungry or provisioning young. Shore-living individuals adapt to the rhythm of the tides. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic arthropods, but may take any invertebrate or vertebrate prey they can catch, including such animals like leeches, earthworms, dragonflies, damselflies, waterbugs, grasshoppers, spiders, crayfish, prawns, mice, other rodents, lizards, tadpoles and snakes. Some of the many fish eaten are: minnows, sunfish, catfish, perch, eels and, in urban areas, goldfish. Green herons are intolerant of other birds – including conspecifics – when feeding and are not seen to forage in groups. They typically stand still on shore or in shallow water or perch upon branches and await prey. Sometimes they drop food, insects, or other small objects on the water's surface to attract fish, making them one of the few known tool-using species. This feeding method has led some to title the green and closely related striated heron as among the world's most intelligent birds. They are able to hover briefly to catch prey.
The northern population moves to its breeding ranges during March and April; near the northernmost limit of the green heron's range, breeding is well underway by the end of May. The migration to the winter quarters starts in September; by late October, the birds are absent from regions where they do not stay all year. At least the northward migration does not seem to be affected by global warming; birds appear in their breeding ranges at the same time they did 100 years ago.
Individuals of non-migratory populations abandon their territories after breeding season to roam about the region. They may or may not return to the previous year's breeding location, depending on whether they found better habitat during these wanderings. In these populations, the breeding season is determined by rainfall and consequent prey availability.
Green herons are seasonally monogamous. The pairs form in the breeding range, after an intense courtship display by the males, who select the nesting sites and fly in front of the female noisily and with puffed-up head and neck plumage. They nest in forest and swamp patches, over water or in plants near water. Nests are a platform of sticks, often in shrubs or trees, sometimes on the ground. Locations in trees are preferred, with some nests built up to 20 m (66 ft) off the ground although heights of several meters are more common. Rarely, large numbers of these birds congregate in heronries for nesting.
The clutch is usually 2–6 pale green eggs, which are laid in 2-day intervals (though the second egg may be laid up to 6 days later than the first). After the last egg has been laid, both parents incubate for about 19–21 days until hatching, and feed the young birds. The frequency of feedings decreases as the offspring near fledging. The young sometimes start to leave the nest at 16 days of age, but are not fully fledged and able to fend for themselves until 30–35 days old. Sometimes – particularly in the tropical parts of its range – the green heron breeds twice a year.


Green herons are one of the few species of bird known to use tools. In particular, they commonly use bread crusts, insects, or other items as bait. The bait is dropped onto the surface of a body of water to lure fish. When a fish takes the bait, the green heron then grabs and eats the fish.  When green herons catch large frogs, they drown them before swallowing them whole.


The sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being considered pests. A highly intelligent bird, they are well known in aviculture, although they can be demanding pets.


In Australia, sulphur-crested cockatoos can be found widely in the north and east, ranging from the Kimberley to as far south as Tasmania, but avoiding arid inland areas with few trees. They are numerous in suburban habitats in cities such as Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. Except for highland areas, they occur throughout most of New Guinea and on nearby smaller islands such as Waigeo, Misool and Aru, and various islands in the Cenderawasih Bay and Milne Bay.
There are four recognised subspecies:


Within Australia, sulphur-crested cockatoos of the nominate race have also been introduced to Perth, which is far outside the natural range. Outside Australia, they have been introduced to Singapore, where their numbers have been estimated to be between 500 and 2000. They have also been introduced to Palau and New Zealand. In New Zealand, the introduced populations may number less than 1000. This species has also been recorded as established in Hawaii and from various islands in Wallacea (e.g. Kai Islands and Ambon), but it is unclear if it has managed to become established there.


Sulphur-crested cockatoos are 44–55 cm (17.5–21.5 in) long, with the Australian subspecies larger than subspecies from New Guinea and nearby islands. The plumage is overall white, while the underwing and -tail are tinged yellow. The expressive crest is yellow. The bill is black, the legs are grey, and the eye-ring is whitish. Males typically have almost black eyes, whereas the females have a more red or brown eye, but this requires optimum viewing conditions to be seen. The differences between the subspecies are subtle. C. g. fitzroyi is similar to the nominate race but lacks the yellow on the ear tufts and has slightly blueish skin around the eye. C. g. eleonora is similar to  C. g. fitzroyi but is smaller and has broader feathers in the crest, and C. g. triton is similar to C. g. eleonora except it has a smaller bill.
It is similar in appearance to the three species of corellas found in Australia. However, corellas are smaller, lack the prominent yellow crest and have pale bills. In captivity, the sulphur-crested cockatoo is easily confused with the smaller yellow-crested cockatoo or the blue-eyed cockatoo with a differently shaped crest and a darker blue eye-ring.


Sulphur-crested cockatoos may no longer be imported into the United States as a result of the Wild Bird Conservation Act (WBCA). However, they have been bred in captivity, with Eleonora and Triton cockatoos the most common subspecies seen in aviculture in the USA and Europe. They are socially demanding pets and have a natural desire to chew wood and other hard and organic materials. They are also loud, often unleashing loud squawks or piercing screeches. They may also make aggressive, unpredictable movements which can frighten people and animals unaware of the accompanying affection.
One cockatoo called Fred was still alive at 100 years of age in 2014. Cocky Bennett of Tom Ugly's Point in Sydney was a celebrated sulphur-crested cockatoo who reached an age of 100 years or more. He had lost his feathers and was naked for much of his life, and died in the early years of the twentieth century. His body was stuffed and preserved after death. Another 'cocky', born in 1921 and residing in Arncliffe with his owner Charlie Knighton, was 76 years old in the late 1990s.
Sulphur-crested cockatoos, along with many other parrots, are susceptible to psittacine beak and feather disease, a viral disease, which causes birds to lose their feathers and grow grotesquely shaped beaks. The disease occurs naturally in the wild, and in captivity.


The little corella (Cacatua sanguinea), also known as the short-billed corella, bare-eyed cockatoo, blood-stained cockatoo,  and little cockatoo is a white cockatoo native to Australia and southern New Guinea. It was known as Birdirra among the Yindjibarndi people of the central and western Pilbara. They would keep them as pets, or traditionally cook and eat them. The downy feathers are used in traditional ceremonies and dances where they adorn head and armbands.


Little corellas usually feed on the ground, however occasionally feed in trees and shrubs. They eat a variety of both wild and cultivated seeds and regularly feed on lawn grasses in urban areas. They frequently feed on cereal crops such as wheat, barley and maize and can become a considerable agricultural pest in some areas.


The long-billed corella or slender-billed corella (Cacatua tenuirostris) is a cockatoo native to Australia, which is similar in appearance to the little corella. This species is mostly white, with a reddish-pink face and forehead, and has a long, pale beak, which is used to dig for roots and seeds. It has reddish-pink feathers on the breast and belly.


The adult long-billed corella measures from 38 to 41 cm in length, has a wingspan around 80–90 cm, and averages 567 g in weight. It has a long, bone-coloured beak, and a rim of featherless, bluish skin around the eyes. The plumage is predominantly white with reddish feathers around the eyes and lores. The underside of the wings and tail feathers are tinged with yellow.


The long-billed corella can be found in the wild in Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. It has extended its range since the 1970s into Melbourne, Victoria and can now be found in Tasmania, South Australia and southeast Queensland. A feral population resides in Perth, Western Australia as of the mid-1980s, which has conservation implications as this species may hybridize with the endangered western corella.
The long-billed corella is found in grassy woodlands and grasslands, including pasture, fields of agricultural crop, and urban parks.


The call of the long-billed corella is a quick, quavering, falsetto currup!, wulluk-wulluk, or cadillac-cadillac combined with harsh screeches.