Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
Distribution 6
Red-tailed hawks are native only to the Nearctic region. They are found throughout the United States and Canada, and into Mexico and Central America. Many birds are year round occupants although the birds of the far north migrate south during the fall to escape the harsh winter.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
Habitat 7
Red-tailed hawks inhabit a wide range of habitats over a wide range of altitudes. These habitats are typically open areas with scattered, elevated perches, and include scrub desert, plains and montane grasslands, agricultural fields, pastures, urban parks, patchy coniferous and deciduous woodlands, and tropical rainforests. Red-tailed hawks prefer to build their nests at the edge of forests, in wooded fence rows, or in large trees surrounded by open areas.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural ; riparian
Ecology 8
Breeding density (pairs /sq. km) varies from 0.03 (Utah) to 0.78 (California); mostly less than 0.025 (but 0.2-0.6 pairs/sq. km in different habitats in Puerto) (Santana 1988, Rothfels and Lein 1983). In Puerto Rico, remains paired and defends territory throughout the year (Santana 1988). Also territorial in winter in at least some parts of the U.S. In a largely sedentary population in Wisconsin, mean seasonal home ranges varied as follows: fall male 390 ha (n=1), female 123 ha (n=2); winter male 157 ha (n=3), female 167 ha (n=6); spring male 163 ha (n=2), female 85 ha (n=6); summer male 117 ha (n=1), female 117 ha (n=5) (Petersen 1979). Most forage within 3 kilometers of the nest (Kochert 1986). See Palmer (1988) for discussion of interactions with other hawks and Great Horned Owl.
Communication and perception 9
Adult red-tailed hawks make a call that sounds like "kee-eeee-arrr." It is often described as sounding like a steam whistle. Young red-tailed hawks communicate with their parents by making soft, low "peep"-ing sounds.
Red-tailed hawks also communicate through body language. In an aggressive posture, the body and head of a red-tailed hawk are held upright, and its feathers are standing up. In submission, the hawk's head is lower to the ground and the feathers are smooth. Red-tailed hawks also display many aerial behaviors. In the talon-drop, during courtship, they swoop down trying to touch one another with their talons. Undulating-flight is an up and down movement that is mainly used in territorial display. In the dive-display, the bird performs a steep dive. This display signals that his territory is occupied.
Red-tailed hawks have excellent vision. This allows them to see prey movements very far away.
Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic
Sources and Credits
- (c) Rhys A., some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Buteo_jamaicensis_-near_Philadelphia%2C_Pennsylvania%2C_USA_-eating_rabbit-8_%281%29.jpg
- (c) Mark Bohn of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Buteo_jamaicensis_-John_Heinz_National_Wildlife_Refuge_at_Tinicum%2C_Pennsylvania%2C_USA-8.jpg
- (c) Brocken Inaglory, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Juvenile_red-tailed_hawk_Buteo_jamaicensis.jpg
- (c) Steve Thompson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/srdt6458/24516674059/
- (c) Don Loarie, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/loarie/13372982684/
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31381691
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31381692
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28919909
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/25063719
