Field Guide/Birds/Buteo jamaicensis

The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a large hawk which breeds from western Alaska and northern Canada to Panama and the West Indies. It is 58 cm long and weighs 800 g. It is one of two species colloquially known in the United States as the Chickenhawk.

Birds of this species have a dark mark along the leading edge of the underwing, between the body and the wrist (the patagium). Most but not all color variations have a dark band across the belly. In most, the adults' tails are rusty red above, and juveniles have narrow brown and pale bands. The main western North American population has bands on the adults' rusty tails as well and has varied plumage, organized into three main color types or morphs.

Light-morph birds are mainly brown on the upperparts and very pale brown or buff on the underparts and underwings; they show a belly band.
Rufous-morph birds are darker and redder, with reddish-brown rather than white on the underparts. The belly band may be barely visible.
Dark-morph birds are very dark brown on both upperparts and underparts; they have lighter parts on the underwings.

Almost all of the main eastern population are light-morph, with whiter underparts and paler markings than western birds and with solid rust-red tails as adults.

Their breeding habitat is open country with high perches. They build a stick nest in a large tree, in a cactus, or on a cliff ledge; they may also nest on man-made structures.

In most of the United States, Red-tailed Hawks are permanent residents, but northern breeding birds migrate south in winter. Throughout their range in the U.S., Red-tailed Hawks receive special legal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. They have a complex relationship with humans, capable of both controlling rodent and other mammalian pests, and of on occasion being one, taking valuable fowl (which has led to them being one of the species described as a chickenhawk).

These birds wait on a high perch and swoop down on prey; they may also patrol open areas in flight. They mainly eat small mammals, birds and reptiles.

In flight, these birds soar with wings in a slight dihedral, flapping as little as possible. They sometimes hover on beating wings and sometimes "kite", or remain stationary above the ground by soaring into the wind.

The Red-tailed Hawk is common and widespread, partly because it has benefited from European settlement. The clearing of trees in the east of North America provided hunting areas, and the practice of sparing woodlots left nest sites. Conversely, the planting of trees in the west provided nest sites where there had been none. The construction of highways with treeless medians and shoulders and with utility poles alongside provided perfect habitat for perch-hunting, so Red-tailed Hawks are now a common sight along highways. Finally, these birds have moved into New York and other US cities, as in the successful non-fiction book Red-Tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama in Central Park, by Marie Winn. Winn wrote about one of the most famous of them, Pale Male.

Trivia

A certain recording of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is probably one the most often heard cinematic sound cliché. This high fierce, scream is often featured in the background of adventure movies to give a sense of wilderness to the scene.