About Buteo ridgwayi (Cory, 1883)
Buteo ridgwayi, commonly known as Ridgway's hawk, is a medium-sized, compact hawk that measures 36 to 41 centimeters in length. Adult individuals have brown-grey upperparts, greyish barred underparts with a reddish-brown wash, rufous-tinged thighs, and a black-and-white barred tail. Males are greyer than females, and both sexes have yellow legs and a yellow base to the bill. The original breeding range of Ridgway's hawk covered the entire island of Hispaniola, as well as several nearby adjacent isles and keys: Gonâve Island, Île-à-Vache, Tortuga, Beata Island, and Alto Velo Island. Due to extensive deforestation and habitat loss, the species has been extirpated from a large area of the Dominican Republic and nearly all of Haiti. It was once believed to have been completely eliminated from the entire country of Haiti, but recent expeditions to the Les Cayemites islands have located a breeding population there. In the Dominican Republic, outside of reintroduction programs, the only known surviving populations are located in and around Los Haitises National Park, along with a small relict population on the Samaná Peninsula.
