Red-tailed Hawk

Overview

The red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, is a large bird of prey and one of the most common hawks in North America. As a species listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, it is legally protected in Canada, Mexico, and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty.

Identification

• Distinguished by a uniformly brick-red tail above and light buff-orange below, with a single black band at the tip in adults.
• Stocky body with broad wings, a whitish underbelly featuring a dark brown band, and yellow legs, feet, and cere.
• Short, dark, hooked bill and yellowish irises that darken to reddish-brown as the bird matures.
• Emits a hoarse, rasping scream described as kree-eee-ar that slurs downward, often compared to a steam whistle.

Habitat

The species occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas, but is absent from areas of unbroken forest and the high Arctic. It is one of the most widely distributed hawks in the Americas, breeding from central Alaska and northern Canada down to Florida, the West Indies, and Central America.

Diet

The hawk preys primarily on small mammals, with rodents comprising up to 85% of its diet, though it also consumes birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. It forages by scanning for prey from elevated perches or while flying, capturing animals in flight or pinning them to the ground with its talons.

Did you know?

The fierce scream of the red-tailed hawk is so iconic that it is frequently used as a generic raptor sound effect in television shows and other media, even when the bird featured is not actually a red-tailed hawk.