The zone-tailed hawk (Buteo albonotatus) is a medium-sized hawk of warm, dry parts of the Americas. It is somewhat similar in plumage and flight style to a common scavenger, the turkey vulture, and may benefit from being able to blend into groups of vultures. It feeds on small terrestrial tetrapods of all kinds.
Taxonomy
In 1844, the English zoologist George Robert Gray, in his List of the Specimens of Birds in the Collection of the British Museum, mentioned the zone-tailed hawk under the common name "white spotted buzzard" and coined the binomial name Buteo albonotatus. As Gray omitted a species description, his binomial name is considered nomen nudum, a naked name, and is not recognised. Instead, the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup is recognised as the authority as in 1847, he provided a brief description and used Gray's name Buteo albonotatus. The type locality is Mexico. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
Description
thumb|Being rehabilitated in a flight cage at Wild at Heart Raptors.
thumb|Zone-tailed hawk
The zone-tailed hawk is a fairly large but slender Buteo hawk. Grown birds are in length with a wingspan of about . The zone-tailed is comparable in length and wingspan to common large Buteos found to the north such as Swainson's and red-tailed hawk, but may weigh considerably less. Their body mass can range from . In measurements, the sexes are close in size, but the female, at an average of , is much heavier and bulkier than the male, at an average of . Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the fairly long tail is and the tarsus is .
They can adapt to various habitats across their broad range, including both closed and open ones and wet and dry ones. Often, the largest numbers are found in rocky areas with access to water. They often reside in coniferous or pine-oak forests as well as timbered canyonland, hilly riverine woods, dry open boscage and scrub, humid forests, and overgrown marshes. They may forage over ranches and even semi-desert, but always need at least scattered tree thickets for nesting. Furthermore, they may be distributed in elevation from sea level to , though are mainly found below in the north and in the southern reaches of the breeding range. rats, mice, squirrels), but reptiles can be locally favored, including virtually any type of lizard, such as the common collared lizard, Yarrow's spiny lizard, the crevice spiny lizard, and the mesquite lizard. Among the rats preyed upon are the tawny-bellied cotton rat and the white-eared cotton rat. Vultures can frequently be seen flying in groups (called "kettles"); zone-tailed hawks often mingle with them, adding to their disguise.
Unlike turkey vultures, which do not normally prey on live animals, zone-tailed hawks are active predators. Because of this, some ornithologists believe that the zone-tailed hawk's similarity to the turkey vulture is a form of aggressive mimicry that deceives potential prey into believing the hawk is not a threat. By mimicking turkey vultures, zone-tailed hawks may be able to approach potential prey items without causing them to flee. although other ornithologists have argued that these two hypotheses are not mutually exclusive.