You’ll find Red-tailed Hawks all year round at Carillon Stonegate Pond - but especially as the cooler or cold fall weather arrives. Keep an eye out for them soaring above the fields and woods north of our ponds. They also like to perch in the trees just north of our ponds and sometimes swoop into one of our yards.
These beautiful birds are North America’s most common hawks. You can spot them by their broad, round-tipped wings and their signature red tail, which you’ll see from above. From below, they’re mostly pale with a darker belly band, wing tips, and edges of their flight feathers. Their heads are brown with a white throat. They’re about 20 inches long and have a wingspan of four feet, even though they’re one of the largest birds you’ll see in North America, they only weigh about 2.5 pounds.
Red-tailed Hawks fly by “flap-gliding,” where they flap their wings for short periods and then glide with their wings extended. They also “soar” when there’s wind or updrafts. They’ll soar gracefully in the skies above open fields, slowly turning wide circles on their broad, rounded wings. When flapping, their wingbeats are heavy. In high winds or on thermal updrafts, Red-tailed Hawks may hover or glide for long periods of time.
They’re keen-eyed and efficient hunters. Even though they’re often seen soaring, they’re mostly perch-hunters. They perch on tree limbs, telephone poles, or other high structures to look for prey. When they spot prey on the ground, they glide down, pushing their legs forward when they’re close and impaling it with their talons. They might also hunt together, guarding opposite sides of the same tree to catch tree squirrels.
What’s for dinner? Rodents and other mammals! Red-tailed Hawks are carnivores! They mostly eat mammals like voles, mice, wood rats, rabbits, snowshoe hares, jackrabbits, and ground squirrels.
Red-tailed Hawks are monogamous and often stay together all year. They build nests from February to May. At the start of the breeding season, they do amazing aerial courtship flights, with loud screams. The nest is in a tall tree, often the tallest tree in a group, or on cliff ledges, towers, nest platforms, and sometimes buildings.
Most Red-tailed Hawks in Alaska, Canada, and the northern Great Plains fly south for a few months in winter (sound familiar?). Red-tailed Hawks from the rest of North America usually stay put and don’t go on vacation.
Are they in danger? There’s not much to worry about. The North American Breeding Bird Survey says the Red-tailed Hawk is not in danger. Partners in Flight thinks there are about 3.1 million breeding pairs worldwide.
Do they make any cool sounds? The Red-tailed Hawk has a super cool, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound!
Interesting Facts About the Red-tailed Hawk:
Red-tailed hawks have amazing eyesight - which is 8 times stronger than a human’s - and can see in color.
Red-tailed hawks are the most commonly used bird in falconry.
Whenever a hawk or eagle is on TV or in a movie, no matter what kind, the loud cry on the soundtrack is almost always a Red-tailed Hawk.
Did you know that the Red-tailed Hawk has a bony ridge over its eye socket that acts like a baseball cap, providing shade for its eyes in direct sunlight?
Their curved beak and sharp talons are super efficient for catching their prey.
And the oldest known wild Red-tailed Hawk lived for at least 30 years? That’s pretty impressive!
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