COMMON NAMES: Bay-winged Hawk, One-banded Hawk

RANGE: Southwest region of U.S. through Central and South America to Chile. The northernmost faction is in southern California.

HABITAT: Upland deserts dominated by saguaro cacti, arid mesquite and paloverde woodlands and some juniper-oak habitat

SIZE: LENGTH: 18-23 inches
WINGSPAN: 40-47 inches
WEIGHT: 1.3-2.6 pounds

LIFE EXPECTANCY:
WILD: Unknown
CAPTIVITY: Unknown

DIET:
WILD: Small mammals (like ground squirrels), desert cottontails, gophers, Gambel's quail, lizards, insects, and small snakes. In general, they seem more flexible in their diet than other raptors, adjusting their diets to the available prey species.
CAPTIVITY: Squirrel, rabbit, rats, and mice

BEHAVIOR: Harris’ Hawks are extremely social raptors, and they are the only cooperative nesting raptor in North America. Individual breeding groups reside in and defend breeding territories. In courtship flights the male goes into a vertical dive from 150-200 meter height and ends with upward swoop to the back of an adult female perched on top of a saguaro cactus; copulation immediately follows. Sometimes 2 males will do this courtship flight at the same time, and the trio will remain together through the nesting season. This polyandry tends to insure nesting success because if one male dies, the other male is still there to bring food to the nest and to help protect it. Polyandry seems to be most common in Arizona, where there is a much higher ratio of males to females. Groups have also been known to include immature birds from previous clutches that bring food back to the nest, and this behavior seems to result in higher success rates for raising young. During nesting season they develop a strictly defined social order involving an alpha male and female, beta male and female, and a gamma male and female. In most cases, only the alpha male and female feed and brood the young.

REPRODUCTION: Harris’ Hawks nest mostly in saguaro cacti or paloverde trees at height of 10-18 feet. They have a prolonged nesting season and will lay eggs from mid-January to mid-August. Second and third clutches fairly common. Average clutch size of 3 eggs with incubation period of 35 days. The male will share incubation duties. The young fledge in 40-45 days and will remain in the nesting territory for another 2 to 3 months.

POINTS OF INTEREST:
Physiology: Harris’ Hawks are long legged and long tailed. Their plumage is a dark brown to black with chestnut thighs and shoulder patches and white rumps. They are one of a few hawks in North America that have dark brown eyes.

Hunting: Harris’ Hawks combine the flying/hunting styles of buteo hawks and goshawks. They may perch in a low tree or move through brush like a goshawk or they may soar high in the sky like a buteo. They will often hunt cooperatively, using flush and ambush, surprise pounces and relay attack methods. For example, one bird will walk up to a bramble thicket where a desert cottontail is hiding and stick in his foot to flush the rabbit while another Harris' hawk is circling above and goes in for the kill. Kills are shared among the entire nesting group. Because of this, Harris' hawks are called the lions of the desert and resemble a pack of lions crowding around the kill to get their share.

Perching: In winter, Harris’ Hawks will perch in groups of up to a dozen. Sometimes, due to lack of perching space in the desert, they will stand on another bird’s shoulders, stacking 5-7 birds high in a cheerleader-like fashion.

Falconry: Captive bred Harris' Hawks are a favorite of falconers; they will actually hop from tree to tree as the falconer walks through the woods.

STATUS: Declining in U.S. due to habitat alteration, i.e. urban sprawl.