Red-tailed Hawk
The brick-red-tailed buteo seen over fields, deserts and highways from Alaska to Panama.
via Wikipedia: Red-tailed hawk · see source
The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a bird of prey and one of the most common hawks in North America. It breeds from western Alaska and northern Canada south to Panama and the West Indies, and it lives almost anywhere open ground meets perches: deserts, grasslands, forests, farmland and cities. Only unbroken forest and the high arctic are avoided. A stocky, broad-winged hawk, it is easiest to recognise by the tail that gives it its name, brick-red on top and pale buff-orange underneath. It is protected in Canada, Mexico and the United States under the Migratory Bird Treaty.
Quick Facts
- Genus
- Buteo
- Species
- jamaicensis
- Audio
- Screaming Hawk.wav
Facts from the source article.
Background
German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the species in 1788 as Falco jamaicensis, basing it on a cream-coloured buzzard that John Latham had described from a Jamaican specimen in 1781. That is why the scientific name refers to Jamaica. It belongs to Buteo, a genus of 28 species of sturdy, broad-winged raptors named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799; in Europe these birds are called buzzards. At least 14 subspecies are recognised, differing in colour and range. The pale and dark Harlan's hawk of Alaska and northwestern Canada is so distinct that it is sometimes treated as a species of its own.
Did You Know?
- It is one of three birds nicknamed chickenhawk in the United States, though it seldom takes adult chickens.
- Adults' red tails usually end in a single black band.
- The western subspecies B. j. calurus comes in light, dark and intermediate morphs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you identify a red-tailed hawk?
Look for a stocky, broad-winged hawk with a pale belly crossed by a dark band and a tail that is brick-red above and buff-orange below.
Do red-tailed hawks mate for life?
Yes. Pairs stay together and only take a new mate when the original one dies.
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