White-tailed Hawk

59 - 60 cm. The adult"s top and sides of head, hindneck and upper back gray: wings fuscous brown tipped black, the lesser coverts and scapulars cinnamon rufous: lower back, rump, and tail feathers white, usually with fine fuscous barring: the tail has a prominent black band near the tip: throat and undersides white, the sides of belly and tibiae with fine dark barring: remiges black tipped, the basal portion barred with gray: iris brown: cere pale green: bill black at the tip, pale at the base: feet yellow.<nThe adult dark phase is similar to the light phase, but underside is gray: feathers of abdomen edged white, tibia barred rufous and white. <nThe immature dark brown to black above: hindneck marked with buff or white: shoulders tinged ferrugineous: upper tail coverts buffy white barred rufous: underside brownish black, streaked or barred with buffy white: chin and throat dark gray like the head: tail light gray, evenly barred fuscous often with an ill defined blackish subterminal band

Two-note nasal whistles kawaaa...kawaaa...kawaaa or keela...keela...kek.. kek .

Still-hunts from perch, also forages by gliding and hovering.

Nesting confirmed.

Rare over savannah, agricultural land, cerrado, denuded hills etc.

Inland and coast. In Estado S<C4>o Paulo reported from <8E>Itapetininga, Itapirapua, Campos do Jordao, Tremembe, Bananal, S<C4>o Jose do Barreiro, Tres Estados ^119 .