Short-tailed hawks breed in the tropical and subtropical Americas from southeastern Brazil and northern Argentina north through Central America to the mountains of the Mexico-Arizona border area, as well as in southern Florida, United States; it is also found on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.

It is replaced by the white-throated hawk (B. albigula) in the Andes of southern Colombia and south to central Argentina and Chile; the short-tailed hawk is found in the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Occidental of Colombia, while B. albigula occurs south of these locales.

[3] As far as is known, B. brachyurus is a year-round resident except that most of the Florida population migrates in winter to the southern tip of the state, including the Keys.

A frequent maneuver is "kiting" – coming to a stop, the bird heads into the wind, with its wings held stationary.

[7] There are isolated records of short-tails preying on sharp-shinned hawks (Accipiter striatus) and American kestrels (Falco sparverius).

In all parts of the range, they occasionally supplement their diet with smallish mammals, principally small rodents such as mice, rats, and bats.

In Florida, the bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a popular nesting tree of the short-tailed hawk.

Due to the fact that it is believed to be regularly overlooked in the field, no comprehensive population surveys have occurred for the species.