It is found in all habitats, from shoreline to bare lava-fields, open, rocky, scrub country, deciduous forests and mountain peaks. It feeds on a wide variety of sea and landbirds, rats, lizards, iguanas, invertebrates and carrion. It breeds throughout the year. It nests on a stick platform on a prominent lava outflow, rocky outcrop or in a small tree (Thiollay 1994). It is cooperatively polyandrous, with one female typically mating with two or three males (up to eight males have been recorded), and all males helping in raising the chicks (Faaborg et al. 1995).

Buteo galapagoensis was apparently once common on most of the main islands of the Galápagos, Ecuador. Following a serious population decline in the past, it is now extinct on San Cristóbal and Floreana (Dvorak et al. 2017, 2019). It occurs on Santiago, Española, Isabela, Fernandina, Pinta, Marchena, Pinzón and Santa Fe (de Vries 1973).

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. Most of the archipelago is under national park and marine reserve protection and, in 1979, was declared a World Heritage Site. The species has been protected by Ecuadorian law since 1959 (de Vries 1973). The possibility of reintroduction to previously inhabited islands has been discussed (de Vries 1984; Faaborg 1984), but advised against as prey-supply may have declined, and the effects may be detrimental to other threatened species (de Vries 1984). Ecological research is ongoing and will result in detailed information on each island population (T. de Vries in litt. 2000, 2007). A study on natal dispersal collected from 1998 to 2009 from a banded population of 25 territorial groups (Rivera et al. 2011). Rats were eradicated from Rábida, Bartolomé and Bainbridge islands in 2011.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Produce an up-to-date estimate of the population size. Assess the population structure. Monitor the population trend. Investigate threats and their potential impacts on the population, including the loss of genetic diversity and the conversion of habitat.