Argentina (B), Belize (B), Bolivia (B), Brazil (B), Colombia (B), Costa Rica (B), Ecuador (B), El Salvador (B), French Guiana (B), Guatemala (B), Guyana (B), Honduras (B), Mexico (B), Nicaragua (B), Panama (B), Paraguay (B), Peru (B), Suriname (B), Trinidad and Tobago (B), USA (B), Venezuela (B).
Eastern Colombia and eastern Ecuador, east to Venezuela and the Guianas, and south through Amazonian Brazil to northern Maranhío.
 
Population
Estimated population is 2,000,000 (2011).
Grey Hawk (Buteo plagiatus) [XC274482]
by Paul Marvin from Carara NP area, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (call, long call)
(Buteo plagiatus) [XC511241]
by Enrique Varela from Madera Canyon, Santa Cruz Co., Arizona, United States (call)
Subspecies
Asturina nitida and Asturina plagiata (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) have been lumped as nitidus following AOU (1998) and moved to the genus Buteo following AOU (2006). Gender agreement of Buteo nitidus follows David and Gosselin (2002a).
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Grey-lined Hawk (Buteo nitidus).