Red-Tailed Hawk

While all red-tails have a distinctive red tail, the rest of their body can be darker or lighter than the picture above.

Jim Shuler, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

 

Scientific Name

Buteo jamaicensis

 

Identification

• Adults have a very disctinct reddish-brown tail.
• The plumage of the body and wings is highly variable: color can range from dark brown to nearly white. Different color patterns within one species are called color morphs.
• The belly and underside of the wings are lighter in color than the upper side of the body. On the leading edge of the wing, a dark bar runs from the shoulder to the wrist.
• Hawks have a distinctive silhouette: they have broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail.
• Red-tails have a 4-foot (1.2m) wingspan, but adults only weigh 3 lbs (1.4kg).

 

Habitat

• Red-tailed hawks have permanent populations across the continental United States.
• Hawks in Canada and Alaska migrate south to Mexico during the winter, and then return to their northern breeding grounds in the summer.
• At the Grand Canyon, a permanent population means that red-tailed hawks can be seen year-round. Migratory hawks flying south for the winter pass through the Canyon in the fall.

 

Behavior

• Red-tailed hawks are most commonly seen from the Rims as they soar in wide circles over the Canyon.
• Red-tails prey almost exclusively on animals on the ground. Common prey includes rats, rabbits, ground squirrels, snakes, and ground birds.
• They will carry small prey to a perch where they can eat safely, but will eat larger prey on the ground where it was killed.
• While courting a female, male red-tails will perform a series of steep dives past the female. This display often ends with the two birds grabbing each other's talons and spiraling towards the ground before they release one another.
• In the Grand Canyon, red-tailed hawks nest both in trees on the Rims, and on cliff ledges inside the Canyon.

 

More Information

Arizona Raptors- Arizona Game and Fish Department PDF