Gray Hawk

I'd never heard of a gray hawk until I started planning to go to southeastern Arizona. However, when I saw a photo, I really wanted to see one. It is a very handsome bird. We visited the partly above-ground and under-ground Santa Cruz River between the Santa Rita Mountains and Tumacacori Mountains (closer to the latter) and I got very excited when my guide, Jake Thompson, said one was flying overhead. I barely got my camera up for a photo and got only one photo as it disappeared from sight by the tall trees above us. 

It appears to eat mostly reptiles and forages mostly in mesquite woodlands adjacent to forests of cottonwood and willow that occur along streams and rivers which are used for nesting. In southern Arizona its nests are concentrated along the streams and rivers of the Gila river watershed and in Texas along the Rio Grande watershed. It is not common in the U.S., probably numbering fewer than 100 nesting pairs. However, it can get high densities in favorable habitat. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. Its range is limited to portions of Arizona and Texas in the U.S., but much more extensive than some other species I saw.