Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

The Red-tailed Hawk is one of the most common and widespread hawks in North America, familiar to many people as the large, soaring raptor often seen perched along highways or circling over open fields. Its plumage is highly variable across its wide range, but the adult's brick-red tail is a consistent and diagnostic feature.

Adapted for hunting over open terrain, it has broad, rounded wings for efficient soaring, and its feathers show considerable regional and individual variation in overall tone, from very pale to very dark morphs.

Identifying Red-tailed Hawk Feathers

• Tail feathers: in adults, a rich brick-red to rufous above with a single narrow dark subterminal band near the tip; the underside appears paler pinkish with faint banding.
• Primaries/secondaries: broad and rounded, brown above, whitish below with dark barring and dark wingtips.
• Body feathers: highly variable, typically pale buff to whitish with a band of darker brown streaks across the belly (the 'belly band'), though dark-morph birds can show largely dark brown body feathers throughout.
• Juvenile tail: brown with multiple narrow dark bands rather than the solid red of adults, a key distinction when aging a found feather.
• The combination of a broad rounded shape with a single red tail (in adults) or finely multi-banded brown tail (in juveniles) helps separate this species from other regional buteos.

Plumage

Adult Red-tailed Hawks have brown upperparts, pale underparts often marked with a dark belly band, and a diagnostic brick-red tail with one dark subterminal band. Plumage varies considerably by region, with pale, dark (melanistic), and rufous morphs all occurring, particularly in western populations. Juveniles lack the red tail, instead showing a brown tail with several narrow dark bands, and gain the full red tail after their first complete molt. Sexes look alike in plumage, with females larger.

Habitat & Range

Widespread and common across nearly all of North America, from Alaska and Canada south through the United States, Mexico, and into Central America, occupying open country, farmland, woodland edge, deserts, and even urban parks. Northern populations migrate south for winter, while many populations further south are resident year-round.

Behavior & Field Notes

Red-tailed Hawks hunt mainly from elevated perches or soaring flight, taking small mammals and other prey over open ground, and are frequently seen along roadsides where prey is visible in mowed verges. They build large stick nests in trees, on cliffs, or on structures, often reused across years. Their call, a harsh, descending scream, is widely used in media to represent raptors generally. A broad, rounded feather with a solid red tail or a multi-banded brown juvenile tail found in open country across North America is a strong candidate for this common species.