Ridgway's Hawk Buteo ridgwayi

Ridgway's Hawk is an endemic species occurring historically only on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in the countries of Haiti and Dominican Republic (Wiley and Wiley 1981, BirdLife International 2000). It is a smallish forest Buteo with an overall grayish brown appearance. Presently, the hawk is believed to be extirpated from Haiti (Latta et al. 2007), and is critically endangered in its last known stronghold in Los Haitises National Park and surrounding areas in northeastern Dominican Republic. Although once locally common and widespread in elevation and habitat types on Hispaniola and satellite islands, it now is confined to moist lowland forests, and mosaics of mature and disturbed forests with agricultural plots, with an estimated global population of fewer than 400 individuals (T. Hayes and R. Thorstrom, unpublished data). Owing to a translocation program conducted by The Peregrine Fund, a second population of Ridgway's Hawk has been established at Punta Cana on the southeast side of the island where it inhabits a resort landscape of manicured lawns, trees and golf courses, as well as patches of dry forest.