Red-Tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

The red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, is the broad-winged buteo commonly seen soaring over roadsides, fields, deserts, and woodlots across much of North America. Adults usually show the brick-red upper tail that gives the species its name, but plumage varies from pale western birds to dark morphs, and young birds have banded brown tails. It hunts from perches or by circling on thermals, taking rodents, rabbits, snakes, and other available prey. Its raspy scream is often used in films to represent any large bird of prey, even when the bird on screen is an eagle.

Red-tailed hawks are protected wildlife, not pets. Human care usually occurs through licensed falconry, wildlife rehabilitation, zoo education programs, or short-term research handling. Falconers value passage birds for their steadiness and ability to work open country, while rehabilitators manage fractures, vehicle strikes, rodenticide exposure, and orphaned nestlings under permit. Housing requires weather-safe mews or large flight enclosures, whole-prey diets, and handling that limits imprinting or stress. Conservation concerns are generally local: safe nesting sites, reduced secondary poisoning, and power-line or road mortality are more relevant than captive breeding for this widespread species.