The galapagos Hawk / El gavilán de gálapagos

Hawks or buzzards are birds of prey, or raptors; they are smaller than eagles and less agile than falcons. They are general predators, catching mostly rodents, birds, reptiles and insects on the ground, rare1y in the air, capturing them from a site in a tree or pole or flying at medium altitude and nose diving down on their prey. There are 28 species of hawks of the genus Buteo, which originated on the American continent, but at present they are widely distributed throughout the world, with 12 species in South America, 7 in North America, of which 2 migrate to South America (Buteo swainsoni and B. platypterus) and one (B. lagopus) shared with Europe-Asia, 5 in Africa, one in Madagascar, one in Asia and one shared by Asia and Africa and one in Europe and Asia (Thiollay, 1994). Several species have colonized islands, so it is not surprising that a buzzard of the genus Buteo also reached the Galapagos Islands. In South America some species have adapted to open areas (Buteo polyosoma,B.poecilochrous. B. albicaudatus, Buteo (Geran oaetus) melanoleucus ; and others live in more forested regions (Buteo (Rupornis) magnirostris, B. leucorrobous and B. nitidus, as well as several buteos previously classified in the genus Leucopternis). The Galapagos Hawk has adapted to open areas and open dry forests, it is not a bird of prey of dense moist forests, such as the upper regions of the larger islands in the Galapagos.