192 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Hawk it hovers in mid-air to locate its prey on the ground below, and.its 
flight is said to be light, powerful, and easy. 
In Paraguay, where Doctor Wctmore found it frequenting the open 
savannas, in one place “the sight of these little falcons brought con¬ 
sternation to the screeching flocks of monk parrakeets that fed in . . . 
old sweet-potato fields” (1926a, p. 103). 
PIGEON HAWK: Falco columbarius columbarius Linnaeus 
Plate 9 
Description.— Male: Length about 10-11 inches, wing 7.4-7.S, tail 4.G-5.2, 
bill .5, tarsus 1.3-1.4. Female: Length about 12.5-13.2 inches, wing S.3-8.6, 
tail 5.3-5.5, bill .5-.6, tarsus 1.5-1.6. Wing with two outer quills cut out; tail having 
not more than four wide blackish or five narrow light bands. 
Adult male: Upper parts bluish interrupted by streaked rusty 
or bujfy nuchal collar , and feathers of back with black shaft 
streaks; wing quills- blackish marked with white; throat 
usually white, rest of underparts tinged with tawny or 
ochraceous, vertically streaked (spotted or barred on flanks) 
with dark brown; iris brown, bill bluish, cere, legs and feet 
yellow. Adult female and young: Color pattern similar 
but upperparts dark brown, and underparts with whitish 
or buffy prevailing. 
Comparisons. —See Sharp-shinned Hawk, Compari¬ 
sons, p. 158. 
Range. —Breeds from northwestern Alaska and north¬ 
western Mackenzie south except in Pacific coast region, 
in mountains to California; and from Ontario, northern 
Quebec, and Newfoundland south to Maine, southern 
Ontario, northern Michigan, and Minnesota; winters from southern British Columbia, 
southern Colorado, Nebraska (one specimen from Ottawa), and east to Massachusetts 
south through Mexico, Central America, and West Indies to Ecuador and Venezuela. 
State Records. —As a migrant, the Pigeon Hawk was reported as not uncommon 
on the upper Pecos near Willis the fall of 1883 (Henshaw), was twice seen at Ship- 
rock (Gilman), and once noted near Tres Piedras, August 1, 1904 (Gaut). It was 
taken near Lake La Jara, September 18, 1904, and near Tularosa, November 5, 
1902 (Gaut), [one was taken 25 miles south of Albuquerque, October 30, 1917 
(Leopold); others were taken near Silver City, November 2, 1919, November 14, 
1920, November 2, 1922, and October 19, 1924 (Kellogg).]—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —Commonly in coniferous trees, in hollows or on branches, but also on 
ledges of cliffs; slight or bulky, according to location. Eggs: 4 to 7, varying from 
white, with a few indistinct spots, to nearly uniform rich brown. 
Food. —Mainly birds, grasshoppers, dragon flies, and other insects, and occa¬ 
sionally injurious mammals. “Good and bad habits balanced” (Henderson). 
General Habits. —The “intrepid” little Blue Corporal or Bullet 
Hawk, as the Pigeon Hawk is locally known, frequents the edges of 
woods and shores of large bodies of water, where it preys upon birds up 
to its own size and sometimes larger. 
From Biological Survey 
(J. L. Kidgway) 
Fig. 31. Pigeon Hawk 
