Visual Search | Wizard | Browse
Bird name:
Home| Search| Browser| Expert| Forum| Store| My WhatBird| Help| Site Map

Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensisOrder: FALCONIFORMES Family: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)
Codes: Common Name: RTHA Scientific Name: BUTJAM ITIS Taxonomic No.: 175350
Least Concern
 
Red-tailed Hawk_2
Copyright © 2004 - 2008 Whatbird.com
whatbird search for your browser
whatbird search for your browser
Splitbar
Rate this Illustration: Excellent Very Good Good
Fair Below Avg Poor

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips
Clingers Only Feeder
Weather resistant inexpensive feeder is ideal for small birds.
Suet Delight
Easy to hang and maintain, holds all kinds of packaged suet.
Ultimate Woodpecker Feeder
Only allows woodpeckers to feed made of Inland Cedar.
The No-No Copper Feeder
Beautiful copper feeder holds 2.5 lbs of sunflower seeds.
Attracting Clingers

Overview

Red-tailed Hawk: Large, highly variable hawk with brown upperparts, head and throat. The underparts are pale with brown streaks. Wings are pale below with dark bar at leading edge and dark tips. The tail is red-brown with dark terminal band. Legs and feet are yellow. Soars on thermals and updrafts.


Range and Habitat

Red-tailed Hawk: Found in Alaska and Canada south to Panama. Found in open country, woodlands, prairie groves, mountains, plains, farmlands, and roadsides.

whatbird search for your browser
whatbird search for your browser

Topo Map: Hawk-like Body


Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"keeer-r-r"

Interesting Facts

 The raspy cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is typically used in movies to represent any eagle or hawk anywhere in the world.

 They can spot a mouse from a height of 100 feet.

 Males and females perform a courtship ritual in which they dive and roll in the sky. They will even lock talons and fall together a distance before splitting apart.

 A group of hawks has many collective nouns, including a "boil", "knot", "spiraling", "stream", and "tower" of hawks.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Yury Lisyak

Splitbar
Range Map for Red-tailed Hawk

.
Family Hawk (Accipitridae)_blue
Species Buteo jamaicensis
Length19 - 25 Inches
Wingspan52 Inches

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk: Large, highly variable hawk with brown upperparts, head and throat. The underparts are pale with brown streaks. Wings are pale below with dark bar at leading edge and dark tips. The tail is red-brown with dark terminal band. Legs and feet are yellow. Soars on thermals and updrafts.

● Song: "keeer-r-r"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-tailed Hawk: Eats mostly small mammals, but also takes birds and reptiles; male Red-winged Blackbirds are often eaten because of their vulnerability when guarding nests.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-tailed Hawk: Two to three white to pale blue eggs, sometimes spotted with brown, are laid in a nest constructed from twigs, lined with pine needles and bark, and built in a large tree. Eggs are incubated for about 30 days by both parents; male may bring female food while she is on the nest.

● Similar species: Red-tailed Hawk: Rough-legged Hawk has unmarked flight feathers, a white comma on the outermost underwing coverts, and lacks brown tail. Dark morph Swainson's Hawk has dark flight feathers and white undertail coverts.

Flight Pattern

Soars on thermals., Several rapid strong wing beats followed by glide., Sometimes hangs on updrafts.
Red-tailed Hawk Body Illustration_2
● Range & Habitat: Red-tailed Hawk: Found in Alaska and Canada south to Panama. Found in open country, woodlands, prairie groves, mountains, plains, farmlands, and roadsides.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationVery common
MigrationMigratory
Weight36.8 Ounces
Hawk-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
Terminal bandX
Refers to the contrasting stripe at the tip of the tail.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Read more...
ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

Read more...
Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX