Red Tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensus

 

What They Look Like

The Red Tailed Hawk has a white chest with a belly band, white mottling on its back, and a red tail.  Like the Red Shouldered Hawk it has a dark and a light phase of coloring.  It stands 19 inches tall and has a wingspan of 3.5-4.5 feet making it the largest hawk east of the Mississippi.  This is the large raptor you will commonly see perched in trees along the sides of expressways.

Where They Live

In Michigan the red tailed hawk is more common in the lower peninsula than in the upper peninsula.  They live near forest edges next to open areas and often reuse their nest or use an abandoned American crow or squirrel nest. 

What They Eat

As an ambush predator the red tailed hawk sits in a tree and waits for a small mammal, bird, or reptile to happen by and then swoops down on them.  They are true generalists though making them very adaptable to habitat change.

Things to Know

The Red Tailed Hawk is the most commonly seen hawk in Michigan. They are seen many times in trees on roadsides waiting for prey to happen by.

  

Why We Have One

We got our Red Tailed Hawk in July of 1990.  Her left wing had been fractured which impaired her flight so she can never be released into the wild.