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Ridgway's hawk (''Buteo ridgwayi'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae endemic to the island of
Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
(both Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. It is classified as Critically Endangered because of
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
and human persecution in the Dominican Republic; however, due to conservation efforts, the population is now increasing. It is named in honour of the ornithologist
Robert Ridgway Robert Ridgway (July 2, 1850 – March 25, 1929) was an American ornithologist specializing in systematics. He was appointed in 1880 by Spencer Fullerton Baird, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to be the first full-time curator of bird ...
.


Description

''B. ridgwayi'' is a medium-sized, compact hawk, measuring 36–41 cm long. The adult has brown-grey upperparts and greyish barred underparts, with a reddish-brown wash, rufous-tinged thighs, and a black-and-white barred tail. The male is greyer than the female, and the legs and the base of bill are yellow.


Diet and breeding

Ridgway's hawk feeds on rodents, bats, centipedes, birds,
anole Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles () and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay. Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat it as a subfami ...
s, skinks, frogs, and snakes. It nests in the crowns of tall trees, such as ''
Roystonea borinquena ''Roystonea borinquena'', commonly called the Puerto Rico royal palm, (Spanish: ''palma real puertorriqueña'') is a species of palm which is native to Hispaniola (in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. ...
'', with nest-building in December through June, and egg-laying in January to June. The clutch size is 1 to 3 eggs. Most pairs raise 1 to 2 young, though 3 have been reported.


Distribution

Ridgway's hawk's original breeding range included all of the island of Hispaniola and some of the adjacent isles and keys, such as Gonâve Island, Île-à-Vache, Tortuga,
Beata Island Beata Island ( es, Isla Beata) is a small island on the Caribbean Sea, located southwest from Cape Beata. Some southwest of it lies the smaller Alto Velo Island. It is politically part of the Dominican Republic, and is roughly triangle-shaped a ...
, and Alto Velo Island. However, it has since been extirpated from a large area of the Dominican Republic and almost all of Haiti, due to extensive deforestation and loss of habitat there. It was thought to be completely extirpated from all of Haiti; however, recent expeditions to the islands of Les Cayemites discovered a breeding population there. In the Dominican Republic, the only known surviving populations outside of reintroductions is in and around Los Haitises National Park, and a
relict population In biogeography and paleontology, a relict is a population or taxon of organisms that was more widespread or more diverse in the past. A relictual population is a population currently inhabiting a restricted area whose range was far wider during a ...
in the Samaná Peninsula.


Conservation

This bird is described as critically endangered, due to clearance of its forest habitat and persecution by local farmers, who claim that the species preys upon their domestic fowl. Conservationists have countered that poultry is nothing more than a minor element of their diet, and that the Ridgway's hawk has a highly varied prey base, with reptiles comprising up to 90% of its diet. Electrocution from power poles and nestling parasitism by ''
Philornis ''Philornis'' is a genus of around 50 species of fly ( Diptera, Muscidae) from Central and South America. Their larvae are subcutaneous parasites of nestling birds. They are sometimes referred to as "bot flies" (e.g. ), though they are not relate ...
pici'' flies are also reasons for population decline. Reintroductions in the Ecological Center of the
Puntacana Resort and Club Puntacana Resort & Club is a resort and residential community located in Punta Cana, La Altagracia Province, Dominican Republic. The resort was established in 1969 by businessman and hotelier Frank Rainieri and Theodore Kheel, a New York labor la ...
in
La Altagracia Province La Altagracia () is the easternmost province of the Dominican Republic. Punta Cana is located on the eastern shores of this province. The province was part of the old La Altagracia Province, which split into 2, La Altagracia Province and La Roman ...
have proven successful; 25 individuals were also released in Aniana Vargas National Park in
Sánchez Ramírez Province Sánchez Ramírez () is a province which constituting one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic. It is divided into 4 municipalities and its capital city is Cotuí. Located in the Cibao Sur region in central Dominican Republic, it is bord ...
, with more releases planned. It is proposed that a "Ridgway's Hawk Day" should become a national holiday in the Dominican Republic, in order for the species to become more publicly known and protected.


References

* Sociedad Ornitológica de la Hispaniola
Proyecto de Educación para la Conservación del Gavilán de la Hispaniola
Retrieved on 6 February 2007. * The Peregrine Fund
West Indies Project—Conservation Projects
Retrieved on 6 February 2007. Detailed info of on-going field studies. * Wildlife Preservation Trust Canada
Threatened Species of the Dominican Republic Progress Report 2005


External links



* ttp://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/ridgways-hawk-buteo-ridgwayi Ridgway's Hawk videos, images and sounds on the Internet Bird Collectionbr>Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Neotropical Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1273226 Ridgway's hawk Endemic birds of Hispaniola Birds of Haiti Birds of the Dominican Republic Ridgway's hawk Ridgway's hawk