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Art by Barry Kent MacKay

(Artwork - 250)
Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris)

This little painting shows a Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) painted approximately life size. It is well named, since it is rather difficult to drive the rural roads of much of mainland Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, and not eventually see one of these handsome little hawks sitting on a fence post or telephone wire beside the road, waiting for prey, not unlike our Broad-winged Hawk does here in Ontario. In fact, the Roadside used to be put in the same genus, Buteo, as the Broad-winged and so many other raptors. There is a great deal of geographic and individual variation within the species; I’ve shown one from Rockstone Pond, Belize.

These birds only weigh about 250 to 300 grams (approximately 9 to nearly 11 ounces). Sexes are colored similarly but females are significantly larger than males. Predatory, they eat nearly anything small enough to overcome, rarely including small birds, lizards and other herptiles, and small mammals, up to the size of marmosets, and large insects. They often occur in towns, villages, and even cities, and will aggressively defend nesting territories against larger animals, even including humans. They make a bulky nest, usually well up in a tree, and have small broods, normally only laying one or two eggs. The first laid is the first hatched so if there are two chicks the older one has the survival advantage.

A favorite hunting method of the Roadside Hawk is, as the name suggests, is similar to that of many species of tyrant flycatchers, who also sit on roadside wires and posts, and that is to sit still and wait for prey to come into view. But while the flycatchers snatch insects in mid-air, the hawk drops down from above. The hawk’s prey often will not see the danger until it is too late. And that helps explain why small birds and mammals often are near the hawk without fear. If they see the hawk, they can escape.

My painting is on a birch panel, is in oils, and measures approximately 20 X 16 inches.

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