Red-tailed Hawks are broad-winged, bulky raptors with broad, rounded wings and a relatively short, wide tail. Adult Red-tailed Hawks are true to their name, as they have reddish or reddish brown tails. Eastern adults generally have brown upper feathers, pale underneath, and a streaked, darker “belly band”. Juvenile Red-tailed Hawks don’t gain their classic red tail until they’re older, and are instead brown with dark bars.
Their plumage varies widely across the species’ North American territory. These “morphs” are a range of color variations that slide from lighter shades to darker brown. They have an enormous geographic plumage variation, and identifying a Red-Tailed Hawk isn’t as simple as “look for a red tail”.
Generally, males and females appear the same, although they are sexually dimorphic due to females being larger and heavier than males on average. Males are typically 17–22 inches long, while females are typically 19–26 inches long. Their wingspans are roughly 45–52 inches.
Red-tailed Hawks have iconic calls, which are a loud, hoarse, descending scream. Their call can be described as “kee-eeeee-arr”, can last between 2–3 seconds, and often call out while soaring. They don’t have elaborate songs like Nutley’s songbirds. However, they make shorter sounds during courtship that sound different. These sounds are shorter, shrill, and sound like “chwirk”. Young hawks will also make begging calls in search of food.
Their classic screams are commonly used in media depictions of Bald Eagles and other raptors in movies and on TV.
Red-tailed Hawks are carnivorous predators that hunt animals from an elevated perch while scanning the ground for prey. Once they’ve spotted their next tasty meal, they swoop down to capture their prey with their talons. They also hunt while soaring over open areas. They can use utility poles, tall trees, and other high elevation structures as hunting perches to get a better look.
Red-tailed Hawks have exceptionally good eyesight that allows them to spot small prey from far distances. Some estimates suggest their visual acuity may be several times sharper than a human’s.
They can be found hunting in a variety of landscapes, which include fields, grasslands, pastures, roadsides, parks, and open woodland. They have been spotted hunting over Nutley, and are chased around by bird species such as Common Grackles and Blue Jays, which is called “mobbing” and is an effective way to collectively “shoo!” the predator away from their nests.
Mammals are a major part of their diet, which comprises ground squirrels, rabbits, rats, mice, and voles. Their predation on rodents provides a natural pest control in an ecosystem. They will also eat birds, frogs, toads, insects, carrion, and sometimes bats.
Snakes are a particularly tempting meal for Red-Tailed Hawk. They hunt for venomous snakes using a special “matador” move by flinging their wings in front of the snake as a distraction. The snakes will then strike at feathers, which have no blood flow. The hawk will then grab the snake and crush its head with powerful talons. They may also sometimes carry a non-venomous snake high up into the air and drop them over a hard surface, letting gravity do its thing.
Their diet also varies depending where they are located. Red-tailed Hawks may bring smaller prey to perches to eat, while larger meals can be at least partially eaten on the ground.
Red-tailed Hawks usually build their nests in tall, large trees with the potential to survey a broad view of the surrounding landscape. They may also build nests on cliff ledges, towers, buildings, window ledges, and billboard platforms. Their adaptability to a variety of potential nesting locations has made them a common sight in cities.
Both members of the breeding pair take part in building and maintaining the nest, which are large and bulky. Nest building materials include sticks, twigs, bark, fresh foliage, and dry vegetation. The inner linings of their nests that cradle eggs comprise of softer materials. They construct nests within 4–7 days on average, and they may reuse and refurbish older nests for future clutches. These nests may top out at 3 feet wide and can reach 6.5 feet high.
Breeding pairs perform aerial courtship displays in which they soar together in circles around each other, while males perform steep dives. They may also chase each other while they swoop around in courtship rituals. Similarly to Bald Eagles, they may lock talons during aerial displays. Males may also catch prey and pass it to females while in flight during courtship. In the Northeast, nesting and breeding occurs during springtime, however exact egg-laying dates vary with location each year.
Red-tailed Hawk females usually lay between 1–5 eggs per clutch, but 2–3 eggs is typical, and they may have only one brood per year. The eggs are generally whitish or buffy brown, and may have brownish or purplish markings. Both parents incubate the eggs for approximately 28–35 days.
Being an altricial species, their babies hatch with their eyes closed, sparse down, and rely on their parents for warmth and protection. The hatchlings are tiny and helpless, unable to even lift their heads. Females spend considerable amounts of time with their young during their early development. Males will supply much of the food for the female and the babies during the early nesting period. Females will break off prey into smaller, bite-sized pieces to feed to the chicks.
Their nesting period is approximately 42–46 days, or about 6–7 weeks. Fledgling hawks aren’t fully independent, as they still need time to develop into strong fliers. Parents will continue to care for fledglings well after they leave the nest.
Red-tailed Hawks are native to North America and have a broad natural distribution. Their migration depends on their geographic location, such as northern populations migrating south for the winter. They can migrate for various reasons, including following where they can better find prey. New Jersey has both all-season resident and summer visitor populations, and one bird spotted in Nutley may not be a migrating bird just because it’s migration season. Compared to other raptors, Red-tailed Hawks migrate relatively late in the season.
The oldest known wild Red-tailed Hawk was at least 30 years and 8 months old when it was found in Michigan in 2011. The hawk was previously banded in the same state in 1981.
Species name: Buteo jamaicensis
Sources: Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, College of Veterinary Medicine
Photo credit: Hunter Masters on Unsplash