March 25, 2025

I am known as a Short-tailed Hawk

I hurt by diving from high in the air

If I spot a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

It will be in my clutches before it knows I am there.

Location: C. a El Socorro, Costa Rica

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Short-tailed_Hawk/overview

Photo and text © 2025 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

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April 30, 2021

I am known as a Short-tailed Hawk

I am fairly small, about the size of a crow

My Florida population is now at risk

Due to isolation and loss of mangroves.

Location: Turkey Creek Sanctuary, Palm Bay

Sources: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Buteo_brachyurus/

Photo and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 4, 2020

Location: Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Okeechobee

I am known as a Short-tailed Hawk, 
You won't spot me in Florida too often.
To hunt I drop down to surprise small birds
As described by Kenn Kaufman*

* The text on the Audubon site is adapted from Kenn Kaufman's Lives of North American Birds 

Sources: Audubon Guide to North American Birds - Short-tailed Hawk

Photo and text © 2020 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

November 14, 2018

Location: Mt Dora, Lake Apopka North Shore Restoration Area

I'm a Short-tailed Hawk from a long way away
You can see that my primaries are kinda snowy
The wing linings are dark, but my defining mark,
Is the fact that my tail is short, it's not showy.

Sources: Interview, David Simpson

Photo and text © 2018 Dee Fairbanks Simpson