NL·0218Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Buteo jamaicensis
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Native to
- Alaska and Canada through the US, Mexico and Central America to Panama; the West Indies
- Habitat
- Grassland, Farmland, Woodland edge, Desert, Cities
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Red-tailed Hawk
Live sightings near you, the range map, bar charts of when it is seen, and Macaulay Library photos and recordings.
Red-tailed hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
Also calledAguililla cola roja (Spanish, Mexico) · Guaraguao (Spanish, Puerto Rico, from Taíno) · Buse à queue rousse (French)
North America's most familiar large hawk, often seen perched on roadside poles or soaring over fields. Its hoarse scream is the sound film-makers dub in for almost any bird of prey, including Bald Eagles.
The red-tailed hawk is a bird of prey and one of the most common hawks in North America. In the United States, it is one of three species colloquially known as the "chickenhawk". The red-tailed hawk breeds throughout most of the continent, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. The red-tailed hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas. It is absent in areas of unbroken forest and in the high arctic. It is legally protected in Canada, Mexico, and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iHunts by watching from a high perch or 'kiting' motionless into the wind
- iiPlumage varies from very pale to almost black across many regional forms and morphs
- iiiHas adapted to cities, nesting on building ledges
- ivPairs often stay together for years and reuse nests
In the field
Field marks
- aAdult tail brick-red above, pale pinkish below
- bDark band of streaks across the pale belly
- cDark bar (patagial mark) on the leading edge of the underwing
- dBroad, rounded wings and short wide tail; dark and rufous morphs occur, especially in the West
- Voice
- A hoarse, rasping, descending scream 'kee-eeee-arrr', 2–3 seconds long.
- Not to be confused with
- Red-shouldered Hawk has a banded black-and-white tail and pale wing 'windows'. Rough-legged Hawk has black wrist patches and a white tail base. Swainson's Hawk has dark flight feathers below and a brown bib. Juvenile Red-tails have brown banded tails.
- Where to see it
- Highway edges and fields almost anywhere in North America; hawk-watch sites such as Hawk Mountain (Pennsylvania) and Duluth's Hawk Ridge in autumn.
- When
- Resident in most of the US; northern birds migrate Sep–Nov
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Rodents, rabbits, squirrels; also birds, snakes and carrion
- Habitat
- Open country with scattered perches, from deserts to farmland and city parks
- Size
- 45–65 cm; wingspan 110–145 cm; 690–1,460 g (females larger)
- Lifespan
- Banding record about 30 years
Pairs perform high soaring courtship flights, with the male diving and climbing and sometimes dangling his legs.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Alaska and Canada through the US, Mexico and Central America to Panama; the West Indies
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Buteo jamaicensis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
A red-tailed hawk nicknamed Pale Male nested on a Fifth Avenue apartment building in New York City from the early 1990s, becoming one of the most famous wild birds in the world.
Curiosity
It was first scientifically described from a specimen collected in Jamaica, hence jamaicensis.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 5212.