• Appearance: brown back, broad wings, white belly with rust-colored streak on top of wings and dark brown/black streakings, wide red tail: bright from above but pale from below
  • Females have the same coloration as males, but are larger
  • There are 16 subspecies of red-tailed hawk, the one common to Long Island is the Eastern Red-Tailed Hawk
  • In the Western United States, adults may be darker and/or have darker streakings – they are known as Harlan’s morphs
  • The red-tailed hawk has the strongest cry of any raptor, so in movies worldwide it is used for the sound of any eagle or hawk

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/sounds

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/sounds

• Length:18-26 inches (about 1.5-2 feet)
• Wingspan:45-52 inches (about 4 feet)
• Status:common, populations increasing
  • Recovered from DDT sprayings that endangered many raptor species in the mid-1900s
• Habitat
  • Inhabit almost any area with open land
  • Meadow, fields and pastures, deserts, scrublands, grasslands, plains, mountains, roadsides, parks, broken woodland, and tropical rainforest
  • One of the most common and most widely distributed hawk in the United States
  • Lives in the United States, much of Mexico, Caribbean, Central America year-round, Canada but only during breeding season

• Diet
  • Most of diet is small mammals, voles, mice, woodrats, rabbits, snowshoe hares, jackrabbits, and ground squirrels, may also eat birds, reptiles, carrion
  • To hunt rattlesnakes, land near snake and flutter wings, when snakes go to strike wings, they are grabbed around the middle of their bodies before receiving a bite to the head
  • Sit on perch and wait for prey to walk out in the open
  • When prey is in range, soar down with wings in V-shape
  • Swoop down by tucking wings in, grab prey with sharp talons, snatch birds mid flight
  • Prey can be anywhere from a few ounces to over 5 pounds
  • It is rare for a red-tailed hawk to eat dogs, cats, or other larger mammals
  • Sometimes hunt in pairs – mates have been seen guarding opposite sides of a tree to catch squirrels
• Migration
  • Most red-tailed hawk populations do not migrate
  • Only populations that breed in cold, snowy climates migrate (i.e. Canada) down to more southerly locations (Mexico, Central America, Caribbean Isles, etc.)
  • Red-tailed hawks fly at around 20-40 mph horizontally, but when diving can exceed 120 mph
  • Usually migrate alone, sometimes forms small flocks
• Nesting
  • When courting a mate, male red-tailed hawks swoop up and down at steep angles, then grabs female’s talons and they both enter twisting dive, breaking off only when they are close to the ground
  • Red-tailed hawks mate for life, but will find a new mate if their partner dies
  • Nests above ground in tree, nesting post, building, etc. – can be up to 120 feet off ground
  • Mating pairs return to the same nest each year
  • Average brood is 2-3 white-light brown eggs speckled with brown or purple
  • During first few weeks, male hunts while female guards nest and feeds chicks
    • When chicks are large enough to feed/defend themselves, both parents hunt
  • Red-tailed hawks are extremely territorial, soar around nest to deter intruders, known to chase other hawks, eagles, owls
    • May dive at humans who get too close to the nest
  • Fledglings learn to fly after about 6-7 weeks, but stay near parents for a few more weeks while they learn to hunt
  • The iconic red tail of this hawk does not show until young are about 1 year old
  • Red-tailed hawks normally start breeding when they are 3 years old
  • Average lifespan is 15-20 years, but the oldest red-tailed hawk was over 30 years old