Asturina plagiata Buteo nitidus plagiatus Asturina nitida plagiata The gray hawk (Buteo plagiatus) or Mexican goshawk[2] is a smallish raptor found in open country and forest edges.

The adult has a pale gray body, the tail is black with three white bands and the legs are orange.

The gray hawk feeds mainly on lizards and snakes, but will also take small mammals, birds and frogs.

It usually sits on an open high perch from which it swoops on its prey, but will also hunt from a low glide.

[6] The AOU listed A. plagiata with the common name "Mexican goshawk" in the first four editions of the Check-List of North American Birds, from 1886–1931.

In 2005, the AOC's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature – North America decided[8] to follow the recommendation to merge the genera, but was not convinced about splitting the species.

This bird has a relatively shorter wing span, but a long tail compared to the red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks.

The gray hawk's range is in Northern and Central America, from southern New Mexico, southern Arizona, to central Texas, through Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, to the northern part of Costa Rica.

[13] A few birds in the northern range will stay in the southern part of Texas year round rather than migrating, but this is rare.

After the breeding season, the birds will begin their journey back south in mid-October to their wintering ranges.

[14] The chicks will begin fledging in 6 weeks and both males and females won't hit sexual maturity until they are least 2 years of age.

The call of the gray hawk consists of long mournful whistles thoooooweeo, hoooooweeo.