Red-Tailed Hawk

Geographic Range: Native of North America, south to the mountains of western Panama: Bahamas and West Indies, east to St. Kitts and the Virgin Islands, north to Alaska.

Status: Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This is the most wide-spread of all the hawks in the United States.

Description: The plumage 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.

Length: 19 - 25 inches in height with a wingspan of 48 - 58 inches.

Weight: 2.5 to 3.8 pounds.

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: Rodents, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, some poultry and game birds, some carrion.

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.
• Often the victim of vehicular collisions, shootings, and an occasional steel-jaw trap.
• The Red-tailed Hawks most dangerous nemesis is the Great Horned Owl.