These are found throughout Australia and north to New Guinea in all but the densest forests and are locally common throughout their range, the specific name berigora is derived from an aboriginal name for the bird. They have a range of plumage colours, from very dark brown to light brown above and off-white below. The preferred habitat is grassland, open woodland and agricultural areas with scattered trees or structures such as telegraph poles that are used for perching.
They don’t hunt by chasing prey in flight, preferring to search for food from a high perch and drop down on the prey, however they occasionally hunt while gliding and flying.
Their diet is small mammals, including house mice and young rabbits, small birds, lizards, snakes and a variety of invertebrates such as caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets and beetles.
Males and females are alike and generally use an old nest from another hawk species but they may build their own stick nest in a tree or occasionally in open tree hollows. Both sexes share the incubation of the eggs and both care for the young, although the female performs the bulk of these duties while the male supplies most of the food.