Ridgway's Hawk
A species of Buzzards and Buteo Hawks Scientific name : Buteo ridgwayi Genus : Buzzards and Buteo Hawks
Ridgway's Hawk, A species of Buzzards and Buteo Hawks
Botanical name: Buteo ridgwayi
Genus: Buzzards and Buteo Hawks
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
B. ridgwayi is a medium-sized, compact hawk, measuring 36–41 cm long. The adult has brown-grey upperparts and greyish barred underparts, with a reddish-brown wash, rufous-tinged thighs, and a black-and-white barred tail. The male is greyer than the female, and the legs and the base of bill are yellow. 
Size
40 cm
Life Expectancy
1 years
Feeding Habits
Ridgway's Hawk primarily preys on rodents, small birds, anoles, and snakes. It employs agile flying and perching tactics to capture its diverse prey, showcasing unique hunting adaptability among raptors.
Habitat
Ridgway's Hawk is typically associated with a range of forested environments including closed canopy wet forests like karst, rain, and riparian forests. This species is also adaptable to open and disturbed landscapes such as lowland dry forests, lowland scrub, pastures, agricultural areas, and marshes. It can inhabit areas with intermediate stature and canopy closure, like hardwood and pine forests. Further illustrating its adaptability, ridgway's Hawk has been observed nesting in agricultural plots, degraded forests, and forest edges. It even maintains populations in urban areas with dry forest patches and artificial structures, highlighting a remarkable habitat flexibility within its geographical range.
Dite type
Carnivorous
General Info
Distribution Area
The Ridgway's hawk's original breeding range included all of the island of Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and some of the adjacent isles and keys. However, it has since been extirpated from Haiti, due to extensive deforestation and loss of habitat there, and today survives only in the Dominican Republic.
Species Status
This bird is described as critically endangered, due to clearance of its forest habitat and persecution by local farmers, who claim that the species preys upon their domestic fowl. Conservationists have countered that poultry is nothing more than a minor element of their diet, and that the Ridgway's hawk has a highly varied prey base, with reptiles comprising up to 90% of its diet. It has an estimated population of 120-130 pairs, making it, along with the bay-breasted cuckoo (Coccyzus rufigularis), the most threatened bird in all of Hispaniola. It is thought the population has been reduced to nothing more than around 260 individuals. The only known surviving population is in around Los Haitises National Park, and a relict population in the Samaná Peninsula.
Photo By Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Scientific Classification
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