Short-Tailed Hawk

This small, agile raptor hunts insects and small birds by soaring in wide circles over pine woodland edges, marshes, and open country, often at height where it can be mistaken for a black vulture until it tips its wings and dives. Look for its distinctive underwing pattern, dark above and pale below with a sharp contrast, most visible on clear thermal-friendly days in late morning. In Florida and through Central and South America it is most often picked up circling rather than perched.