Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteo

Audio for Species

Call
Song

from Macaulay Library

Species Related Links

Additional Red-tailed Hawk Pictures

Description

Male: Length: 17.7-22 in (45-56 cm) Weight: 24.3-45.9 oz (690-1300 g) Wingspan: 44.9-52.4 in (114-133 cm)
Female: Length: 19.7-25.6 in (50-65 cm) Weight: 31.7-51.5 oz (900-1460 g)

There is a significant size difference between te male and female. The Red-tailed has broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail. They are a rich brown on the upperside; white and pale on the underside, with a streaked with brown on the belly and, on the wing underside, a dark bar runs between shoulder and wrist. The tail is usually pallid below and a cinnamon-red above.

Habitat, Range, and Feeding

Deserts, scrublands, grasslands, roadsides, fields and pastures, parks, broken woodland, tropical rainforests of Mexico and every type of open habitat in North America. It is the most widespread hawk on the North American continent.

Male and female build the nest or rebuild a nest they used previously; the nest can be 6.5 feet heigh and 3 feet wide. Made up of piles of sticks and lined with bark strips, fresh leaves and dried flora. The clutch size is 1 to 5 eggs, that are White or raw sienna, speckled with raw sienna, brown, or purple.

Mammels are the main part of their diet, which include squirrels, mice, voles and rabbits. They also feed on birds, snakes and carrion.