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Buteo jamaicensis
Habitat: Fields, deserts, open woodland, mountains, and even rainforests (highly adaptable).
Diet: Mice, ground squirrels, rabbits, squirrels, voles, birds, and reptiles.
Reproduction: Red-tailed hawks usually begin breeding when they are three years old. They are monogamous, and mate with the same individual for many years. In fact, red-tailed hawks usually only change mates when their original mate dies. During courtship, the male and female soar together in circles, with flights lasting 10 minutes or more. Mating usually takes place following these flights. The male and female land on a perch and preen each other. The female then tilts forward, allowing the male to mount her. Copulation lasts 5 to 10 seconds.
Red-tailed hawk nests are usually 28 to 38 inches in diameter. They are sometimes used for several years, and can be up to 3 feet tall. The male and female both construct the nest in a tall tree, 4 to 21 meters above the ground. Where trees are scarce, they are sometimes built on cliff ledges or artificial structures such as on buildings. The nests are constructed of twigs and lined with bark, pine needles, corn cobs, husks, stalks, aspen catkins and other soft plant matter. Fresh bark, twigs, and pine needles are deposited into the nest throughout the breeding season to keep the nest clean. Owls compete with the red-tailed hawks for nest sites. Each species is known to kill the young and destroy the eggs of the other in an attempt at taking a nest site.
The female lays 1 to 5 eggs around the first week of April. The eggs are laid approximately every other day and are incubated for 28 to 35 days. Both parents incubate the eggs. Males may spend less time incubating than females, but bring food to the female while she is on the nest. The young hatch over the course of 2 to 4 days, and are altricial at hatching. During the nestling stage, the female broods the young, and the male provides most of the food to the female and the chicks. The female feeds the nestlings by tearing the food into small pieces. The chicks begin to leave the nest after 42 to 46 days. The fledgling period lasts up to 10 weeks, during which the chicks learn to fly and hunt.
Behavior: Red-Tailed Hawks are carnivores that belong to the category of birds known as raptors. Like all birds of prey, this hawk has a very strong hooked beak, long sharp curved talons, and powerful eyesight. Red-tailed hawks can see eight times more powerful than humans. This helps them to spot the slightest movement in the grass below the treetops. Red-tailed hawks also display many aerial behaviors. In the talon-drop, during courtship, they swoop down trying to touch one another with their talons. Undulating-flight is an up and down movement that is mainly used in territorial display. Finally, in the dive-display the bird performs a steep dive. This is also a territorial display.
Physical Description: Red-tailed Hawks are large hawks with typical Buteo proportions: very broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail. Large females seen from a distance might fool you into thinking you’re seeing an eagle. Most Red-tailed Hawks are rich brown above and pale below, with a streaked belly and, on the wing underside, a dark bar between shoulder and wrist. The tail is usually pale below and cinnamon-red above, though in young birds it’s brown and banded. “Dark-phase” birds are all chocolate-brown with a warm red tail. “Rufous-phase” birds are reddish-brown on the chest with a dark belly.
Conservation Status: Common
Fun Facts:
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Adult red-tailed hawks make what is called a horse scream, "kee-eeee-arrr." It is the most common call used in movies for raptors. |
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Young red-tailed hawks communicate with their parents by making soft, low "peep"-ing sounds. As they get older, they sounds they make deepen in tone, and are usually sounds of hunger. |
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Red-tailed hawks also communicate through body language. In an aggressive posture, the body and head of the red-tailed hawk are held upright and its feathers are standing up. In submission, the hawk's head is lower to the ground and the feathers are smooth. |
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Red-tailed hawks have extraordinarily keen vision, which allows them to detect prey movements at great distances |
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