Details
Buteo jamaicensis
The red-tailed hawk is a large buteo widespread from North America into Central America. Its broad wings and rusty tail are familiar over open country.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It uses grasslands, farms, desert edges, open woods, and urban margins. Tall trees, poles, and cliffs provide hunting perches and nest sites.
Length is 45-65 cm and weight 690-1600 g. It has broad wings, a fairly short tail, and in adults a reddish-brown tail; plumage varies from pale to dark morphs.
Diurnal pairs hold territories. They circle on rising air and dive when prey is located below.
A carnivore, it takes rodents, ground squirrels, rabbits, snakes, and birds. Keen eyesight lets it detect small movements in open ground.
Pairs build stick nests in tall trees or on cliffs, sometimes reusing them for years. Both adults defend the nest and feed chicks mainly with small mammals.
It is listed as Least Concern. Its use of farmland, roadsides, and artificial perches makes it highly adaptable in human-shaped landscapes.
