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Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

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Family: Accipitridae

Average annual sightings on Hawk Hill: 8693; Hawk Hill sightings peak mid-September and again in early November

Total banded by GGRO as of 2018: 10,324

ID BASICS

Size: length 22 inches; wingspan 50 inches

Key Field Marks: black patagial marks, often light belly band and hood

  • Adult: buffy/light orange upper breast, brick-red occasionally barred tail

  • Juvenile: gray-brown banded tail, square wing window (compare Red-shoulder’s crescent), ivory upper breast (“medallion”)

Flight: soaring, gliding, stilling, heavy flap, slight dihedral with “fingers” raised up

(Average annual sightings based on 2006-2017 data; 2010 and 2013 data not included due to partial seasons)

  • Red-tailed Hawk
    An adult Red-tailed Hawk captures a squirrel in its talons Jenni Peters/GGRO Volunteer
  • Red-tailed Hawk release
    A GGRO volunteer releases a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk after banding. Emily Abernathy/GGRO Volunteer
  • Red-tailed Hawk
    A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk is photographed before release. Phoebe Parker Shames/GGRO Volunteer
  • Red-tailed Hawk
    Adult Red-tailed Hawk in flight Jenni Peters/GGRO Volunteer