Hawks are always great to find them, and when they are perched is even better. This juvenile Short-tailed Hawk(Buteo brachyurus) is one of the smallest species of the genus Buteo. Recent phylogenies of the buteos based on mitochondrial DNA sequences place Buteo brachyurus in a clade with Buteo swainsoni, Buteo galapagoensis, Buteo solitarius, and Buteo albigula. All of these species are primarily Neotropical species, with only Short-tailed Hawks and B. swainsoni having significant presences in North America. It is hypothesized that these hawks had a common ancestor similar to B. swainsoni that was a long-distance migrant capable of colonizing distant oceanic islands. The species has two morph types, this one black, and the another one is white. Another hypothesis talks about those two morphs could mate together, but there is nothing to can prove that. Here are a couple of photos I took, while I was birding I found this lovely rare black morph.
