Common Name: Red-Tailed Hawk
Scientific Name: Buteo jamaicensis
Description: Red-tailed hawks have rounded wings and a broad wingspan that can extend up to four feet across. Generally their outer feathers are a rich brown color, and they have a beige underbelly and a short, reddish-brown tail from which they get their name. Their legs and feet are yellow. Both males and females have similar colors and markings, though females are generally 25% larger than the males. The 14 recognized subspecies vary in appearance and range, varying most often in color, and in the west of North America, red-tails are particularly often strongly polymorphic, with individuals ranging from almost white to nearly all black. As is the case with many raptors, the red-tailed hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, as females are on average 25% larger than males.
Distribution: The red-tailed hawk is one of the most widely distributed of all raptors in the Americas. It occupies the largest breeding range of any diurnal raptor north of the Mexican border. No substantial gaps occur throughout the entire contiguous United States where breeding red-tailed hawks do not occur.
Habitat: Red-tailed hawks have shown the ability to become habituated to almost any habitat present in North and Central America. Their preferred habitat is mixed forest and field, largely woodland edge with tall trees or alternately high bluffs that may be used as nesting and perching sites. They occupy a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, nearly any coastal or wetland habitat, mountains, foothills, coniferous and deciduous woodlands, and tropical rainforests.
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Drop-dead gorgeous red-tailed hawks are easy to identify — most of the time