Roadside Hawk

On our way back to La Quinta Sarapiqui Lodge on 16 July 2017 we stopped our bus and photographed a Roadside Hawk. This raptor gets it name from the fact that it is often seen along roadsides and forest edges. Roadside Hawks mostly feed on insects, but also take small vertebrates. We saw these hawks several times during our Costa Rican travels.

Roadside Hawks range from northern Mexico to northern Argentina. Some have even wandered into the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. With such a large range, it is not surprising that twelve races of the species have been described. Populations range from gray to largely brown. Previously in this blog, I have posted an image of a brown, Argentine subspecies.