Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

Description: The plumage of a Red-tailed Hawk is extremely variable, but generally it is brownish with dark bands and a cream colored breast. The adult has a rufous-colored tail that may or may not have a black terminal bar. Immature Red-tailed Hawks have gray-brown tails with horizontal dark bands. The Red-tail molts during its second year.

Geographic Range: Red-tails are found as far north as Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies.
Status: Red-tails are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This is the most wide-spread of all the hawks in the United States.
Length: 19 – 25 inches in height with a wingspan of 48 – 58 inches
Weight: 2.5 to 3.8 lbs
Habitat: Red-tailed Hawks feed in open country (open fields, open woodlands from forest to desert). They often perch on poles, power lines, and treetops.
Typical Diet: They will prey on rodents, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, some poultry, some carrion, and game birds.
Similar Species: Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
Special Notes:
- The Red-tailed Hawk is among the most common and best known of North America’s hawks.
- It is often the victim of vehicular collisions, shootings, and an occasional steel-jaw trap.
- The Great Horned Owl is the most dangerous nemesis of the Red-tailed Hawk.