In 1844, the English zoologist George Robert Gray, in his List of the Specimens of Birds in the Collection of the British Museum, mentioned the zone-tailed hawk under the common name "white spotted buzzard" and coined the binomial name Buteo albonotatus.

[2][3] Instead, the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup is recognised as the authority as in 1847, he provided a brief description and used Gray's name Buteo albonotatus.

The zone-tailed is comparable in length and wingspan to common large Buteos found to the north such as Swainson's and red-tailed hawk, but may weigh considerably less.

Immatures are similar except for small white spots on the breast and tails with narrow gray and black bands and a broad dark tip.

In the northern reaches of the range, the breeding season is mid-April through July, whereas in Trinidad and Ecuador, it is February through June.

Eggs have been found as late as August in Colombia, implying only a loose breeding season in the true tropics.

The mating pair performs a courtship display, which may include engaging in aerial loops, dives, and rolls with each other.

The nest is typical of hawks: a big, bulky assemblage of sticks, lined with green leaves, usually built on the top or the main fork of a tree, in this case at 7.5 to 30 m (25 to 98 ft) above the ground.

As is common in raptors the older sibling often kills the younger one or outcompetes it for food; only occasionally do both survive to adulthood.

[7] Unlike turkey vultures that do not normally prey on live animals, zone-tailed hawks are active predators.

Other birds preyed upon include red-shafted flickers, acorn woodpeckers, eared quetzals, Steller's jays, yellow-rumped caciques, tropical kingbirds, and even eastern screech owls.

[12] Zone-tails also eat various young birds, having been observed preying on nestlings and fledglings of species as varied as herons and passerines.

Zone-tailed hawks are very active foragers, hunting almost exclusively by transects and random quartering in low flight at around 10–30 m (33–98 ft) over the ground.