Zone-tailed Hawk

About the Zone-tailed Hawk

The Zone-tailed Hawk is nature's great con artist. Slim, black, and long-winged, it holds its wings in a shallow V and rocks in flight exactly like a Turkey Vulture, then drifts along with vulture flocks. Prey animals ignore the harmless-looking silhouette until the hawk drops out of the lazy circle at full speed.

Look closely at that vulture and the giveaways appear: a feathered head, bold white tail bands, and barred flight feathers. It is a bird that rewards the birder who checks every vulture, which is exactly how most Zone-taileds are found.

These photographs come from two encounters: soaring over Parque Ecologico Chipinque in Monterrey, Mexico, and hunting at Los Fresnos Nature Park in the Rio Grande Valley just before Christmas.