Socorro red-tailed hawk


The Socorro red-tailed hawk is a subspecies of red-tailed hawk endemic to Socorro Island, off the west coast of Mexico. The wing chord of males can range from, averaging, and, in females, it ranges from, averaging. Males and females average in tail length, in tarsal length and in culmen length. One female was found to have weighed. This race, which is physically fairly similar to the western red-tailed hawk, is not recognized by some authorities because it has a breeding population of perhaps fewer than 20 birds. There are some differences from B. j. calurus, such as their larger, more robust feet and much greater sexual dimorphism, which is the most pronounced of any race linearly, averaging 10.42% when all standard measurements are considered. Furthermore, Socorro hawks tend to average more melantic in overall color, being a duller, darker brown than mainland birds.