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DESCRIPTION: The Harris’s Hawk is a large raptor with a long tail and broad wings. Adult’s plumage is a mixture of bold markings including dark brown, and chestnut red. They have yellow legs, and yellow markings on their faces. The tail is dark with white upper and under tail coverts.
Juveniles are similar to adults but are less distinctly colored and have a white belly with chocolate brown streaking.
They have long legs, covered in tough skin, to allow them to perch on cacti. They are from 18 to 30 inches long; they weigh between 25 and 36 ounces. They have a wingspan of 40 to 47 inches.
Females are larger than males. Harris's Hawks are non-migratory and diurnal.
Harris’s Hawks are highly social raptors that employ some of the most sophisticated cooperative hunting strategies known in birds, and they feed according to dominance hierarchies within the group. Group members perch in tight proximity, and territories are occupied and defended year-round. They are agile flyers that, when hunting, may also take to the ground, running and hopping to seize prey.
Harris's Hawks have keen vision and hearing. Their eyesight is said to be eight times better than a humans, and if they could read, they would be able to read a newspaper headline from a whole football field length away.
RANGE: Harris' Hawks can be found in southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, extending south through Central and South America to Chile and just into Patagonia.
HABITAT: They prefer desert and savannah environments. Access to water is important and these birds generally choose areas that include a water feature.
DIET: Carnivore – hares, rabbits, squirrels, rodents, quail, reptiles, and medium-sized birds
FAMILY LIFE: Most often, social groups of Harris' hawks contain a single monogamous breeding pair. However, these hawks are known to practice simultaneous polyandry, where more than one male mates with one female and shares in the responsibilities of raising offspring.
The female does the bulk of the nest-building work. More than one nest may be constructed or repaired in a given year, and unused sites are often turned into feeding platforms. Nests are bulky structures made up of sticks and parts of cacti, and lined with grass, moss, and feathers. The nests are from 18 to 24 inches across, and about 9 inches deep. The inner cup measures about 6 to 14 inches in diameter and 1 to 4 inches deep.
Nests are located at an average height of 16 feet. In almost any relatively tall, sturdy structure, including native saguaro cacti, palo verde trees, mesquite trees, cliffs, and artificial structures such as electrical transmission towers, weather antenna, windmill platforms, and artificial nesting platforms.
Between 2 and 5 eggs are laid at a time. Females may lay 2 to 3 clutches within a year. The incubation period lasts about 35 days. Both the female and the males contribute to incubation and fledgling care.
Upon hatching, the fledglings are totally dependent upon the adults and are covered in cinnamon colored down. The young birds tend to stay around the nest area for three to four months.
LIFE SPAN: up to 11 years in the wild and up to 25 years in human care
STATUS: Least Concern
Juveniles are similar to adults but are less distinctly colored and have a white belly with chocolate brown streaking.
They have long legs, covered in tough skin, to allow them to perch on cacti. They are from 18 to 30 inches long; they weigh between 25 and 36 ounces. They have a wingspan of 40 to 47 inches.
Females are larger than males. Harris's Hawks are non-migratory and diurnal.
Harris’s Hawks are highly social raptors that employ some of the most sophisticated cooperative hunting strategies known in birds, and they feed according to dominance hierarchies within the group. Group members perch in tight proximity, and territories are occupied and defended year-round. They are agile flyers that, when hunting, may also take to the ground, running and hopping to seize prey.
Harris's Hawks have keen vision and hearing. Their eyesight is said to be eight times better than a humans, and if they could read, they would be able to read a newspaper headline from a whole football field length away.
RANGE: Harris' Hawks can be found in southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, extending south through Central and South America to Chile and just into Patagonia.
HABITAT: They prefer desert and savannah environments. Access to water is important and these birds generally choose areas that include a water feature.
DIET: Carnivore – hares, rabbits, squirrels, rodents, quail, reptiles, and medium-sized birds
FAMILY LIFE: Most often, social groups of Harris' hawks contain a single monogamous breeding pair. However, these hawks are known to practice simultaneous polyandry, where more than one male mates with one female and shares in the responsibilities of raising offspring.
The female does the bulk of the nest-building work. More than one nest may be constructed or repaired in a given year, and unused sites are often turned into feeding platforms. Nests are bulky structures made up of sticks and parts of cacti, and lined with grass, moss, and feathers. The nests are from 18 to 24 inches across, and about 9 inches deep. The inner cup measures about 6 to 14 inches in diameter and 1 to 4 inches deep.
Nests are located at an average height of 16 feet. In almost any relatively tall, sturdy structure, including native saguaro cacti, palo verde trees, mesquite trees, cliffs, and artificial structures such as electrical transmission towers, weather antenna, windmill platforms, and artificial nesting platforms.
Between 2 and 5 eggs are laid at a time. Females may lay 2 to 3 clutches within a year. The incubation period lasts about 35 days. Both the female and the males contribute to incubation and fledgling care.
Upon hatching, the fledglings are totally dependent upon the adults and are covered in cinnamon colored down. The young birds tend to stay around the nest area for three to four months.
LIFE SPAN: up to 11 years in the wild and up to 25 years in human care
STATUS: Least Concern
