Buteo brachyurus
Silhouette: Lauren Anderson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The short-tailed hawk (Buteo brachyurus) is an American bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles and Old World vultures. As a member of the genus Buteo, it is not a true hawk and thus also referred to as a "buteo" or (outside North America) "buzzard". The white-throated hawk (B. albigula) is a close relative and was formerly included in the species B. brachyurus.
Short-tailed hawks breed in the tropical and subtropical Americas from southeastern Brazil and northern Argentina north through Central America to the mountains of the Mexico-Arizona border area, as well as in southern Florida, United States; it is also found on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. This species is generally found below 4,500 ft (1,400 m) ASL and most common below 2,500 ft (760 m). It is replaced by the white-throated hawk (B. albigula) in the Andes of southern Colombia and south to central Argentina and Chile; the short-tailed hawk is found in the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Occidental of Colombia, while B. albigula occurs south of these locales. As far as is known, B. brachyurus is a year-round resident except that most of the Florida population migrates in winter... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Salvador | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 10 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoológico Dois Irmãos | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Amaru | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Everglades Alligator Farm | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Seaside Seabird Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Short-tailed Hawk sighting in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, based on 862 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 183rd most-seen of the 503 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, July and September–March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Short-tailed Hawk in Arenal Volcano National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, June and August, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Short-tailed Hawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
23rd of 71
Of the 71 parks where we can rate Short-tailed Hawk sightings, Arenal Volcano National Park ranks 23rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Brownsberg Nature Park (Suriname, about 30%), Everglades National Park (United States, about 20%) and El Triunfo (Mexico, about 10%).
Same genus: Buteo
The closest relatives of the Short-tailed Hawk that you can see in Arenal Volcano National Park (genus Buteo, Buteos) are Gray-lined Hawk (about 20%) and Broad-winged Hawk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Short-tailed Hawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Arenal Volcano National Park (862 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
