White-throated Hawk | |
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Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Falconiformes (or Accipitriformes, q.v.) |
Family: | Accipitridae |
Genus: | Buteo |
Species: | B. albigula |
Binomial name | |
Buteo albigula Philippi, 1899 |
The White-throated Hawk, Buteo albigula, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which includes the eagles, hawks and Old World vultures. In British usage it would be called a buzzard rather than a true hawk.
The White-throated Hawk is a rather small Buteo, 42 to 45 centimeters long. It lives in the Andes mountains of South America and ranges down to the coast in the O'Higgins region of Chile, preferring wooded areas. It is closely related to the more widely distributed Short-tailed Hawk and was formerly considered conspecific with it. The White-throated Hawk differs in having a longer tail and no dark morph. It also shows plumage differences such as brown streaks on the breast and belly, and a blackish tail with barely visible darker bands.