Zone-tailed hawk Buteo albonotatus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 19 inches Wingspan: 47 inches
• Sexes similar
• Medium-sized hawk
• Entirely dark plumage
• Long, broad, rounded wings
• Wing linings dark with contrasting paler, barred, flight feathers
• Hooked beak
• Long, broad, dark tail with white bands
• Yellow legs and cere
• Immature similar to adult but with scattered white mottling on underparts, and gray bands on the tail
• Wings held in dihedral

Similar species:

The Zone-tailed Hawk looks remarkably similar to the Turkey Vulture with its dark plumage, wings held in a "v", long, narrow wings and tail, and flight feathers appearing paler than the wing linings. Note that the Zone-tailed Hawk has barred flight feathers, white bands in the tail, and a feathered head. The Common Black-Hawk lacks the barred flight feathers and has a more obvious white band in its shorter tail. There are several dark morph hawks that look similar to the Zone-tailed Hawk but lack the white bands in the tail and have different underwing patterns.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.