The Story
I photographed Astro, a Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), on a perch at the Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka, Florida, United States, in October 2020, with his rufous shoulders showing. In the wild this hawk lives in sparse woodland and semi-desert and, in parts of its range, in marshes and mangroves. Scattered large trees, utility poles, dead trees, boulders and saguaros give it important perches and nest sites. The wild population is declining because of habitat loss, though in some places these hawks have moved into developed areas. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. The center raises nestlings with surrogate parents and gives a permanent home to raptors that would not survive on their own.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) belongs to the family Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024). Source: IUCN Red List