Grey-Lined Hawk
Buteo nitidus
Also known as: Gray-Lined Hawk, Gray Hawk, Grey Hawk
About This Species
This compact raptor hunts from low to mid-level perches along forest edges, riverine woodland, and open savanna across Central America and northern South America, watching for lizards, large insects, and small vertebrates below. Its pale grey plumage and relatively short, rounded wings are distinctive in flight, and a perched bird will often sit still for extended periods, making a slow scan of exposed branches near forest edges productive. Drier months, when foliage is sparser and visibility improves, tend to make perched birds easier to spot.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Viewing from a reasonable distance with binoculars, rather than approaching a perched bird directly, avoids flushing it from a hunting perch it may have chosen carefully.
- Raptors receive legal protection in most countries across this species' Central and South American range, but the specific laws and enforcement differ from country to country, so checking local rules is worthwhile rather than assuming a single standard applies.
- Keeping well back from any active nest, and not lingering beneath one, is the simplest way to avoid disturbing breeding pairs.
Seasonal Activity
401,761 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.