Red-tailed hawks usually fly at speeds of around 20 to 40 miles per hour -- but the top recorded flight speed is around 120 mph. PART OF WILD SKY MEDIA | FAMILY & PARENTING, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology – All About Birds: Red-Tailed Hawk, Bird Web – Seattle Audubon Society: Red-Tailed Hawk, The Birds of North America Online: Red-Tailed Hawk. Also hunts by flying over fields, watching for prey below. Learn more about these drawings. In courtship, male and female soar in high circles, with shrill cries. Flight Behavior. Typically, the adult bird is a dark brown above, white breast, and a band across the belly. This is the most widespread and familiar large hawk in North America, bulky and broad-winged, designed for effortless soaring. This includes desert,... Food. Mammals such as voles, rats, rabbits, and ground squirrels often major prey; also eats many birds (up to size of pheasant) and reptiles, especially snakes. Visit your local Audubon center, join a chapter, or help save birds with your state program. Eating Behaviors. Very territorial, the males aggressively defend their areas. Sometimes eats bats, frogs, toads, insects, various other creatures; may feed on carrion. The female is up to a third larger than the male. Sometimes mated pairs of red-tailed hawks attack as a team, cornering their victim. The plumage of these birds varies depending on the region inwhich it resides. Whitish, blotched with brown. Fledglings may remain with parents for several more weeks. To conserve energy the Red Tailed Hawk rarely flaps the wings while in flight. Red-tailed hawks seldom flap their wings while in flight. Red-tailed hawks don't hunch up while diving but stretch out and spread their legs out straight in attack posture. Varied, includes small mammals, birds, reptiles. Other sounds that they offer are similar to a steam whistle. Red-tailed hawks stay put for many years, flying only half a square mile to 2 square miles searching for food. They tend to make sounds as they soar and while they are hunting. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors seem to think. Also called chicken hawks, red-tailed hawks range throughout the United States and Canada. Incubation is by both parents, 28-35 days. Characteristics And Behavior. Bald Eagle. However, they have been known to travel up to 120 miles per hour at times. The pair build a nest made from twigs and bark on a high place, which they use and remodel for years. Type in your search and hit Enter on desktop or hit Go on mobile device. An inhabitant of open country, it is commonly seen perched on roadside poles or sailing over fields and woods. Feeding Behavior. Found in any kind of terrain that provides both some open ground for hunting and some high perches. National Audubon Society Or take action immediately with one of our current campaigns below: The Audubon Bird Guide is a free and complete field guide to more than 800 species of North American birds, right in your pocket. Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Male may fly high and then dive repeatedly in spectacular maneuvers; may catch prey and pass it to female in flight. During disputes, the males dive steeply, talons extended, and swoop up and down repeatedly. Overwhelmed and Understaffed, Our National Wildlife Refuges Need Help. Female remains with young most of the time during first few weeks. Red-tailed Hawk Life History Habitat. The male hunts and the female feeds the young with prey he brings back to the nest. © 2020 WILD SKY MEDIA. Small prey carried to perch, large prey often partly eaten on ground. However, despite their fierce reputations, some hawks are quiet and gentle. They are often seen perching in trees or atop telephone poles, staring at the ground watching for prey. Whitish, blotched with brown. Open country, woodlands, prairie groves, mountains, plains, roadsides. Meet The Woman Who Lived in a Bald Eagle’s Nest to Save Raptors. Young leave the nest about 6-7 weeks after hatching, but not capable of strong flight for another 2 weeks or more. Apparently has increased in some areas since the 1960s, and numbers now stable or still increasing. Spread the word. Monogamous birds, red-tailed hawks pair for life. Most migration is relatively late in fall and early in spring. In addition to their familiar scream, hawks' vocalizations include a high plaintive whistle like the wood pewee (broad-shouldered hawk); a musical kee-you, kee-you (red … Although adults usually can be recognized by the trademark reddish-brown tail, the rest of their plumage can be quite variable, especially west of the Mississippi: Western Red-tails can range from blackish to rufous-brown to nearly white. Habitats may include everything from woodland with scattered clearings to open grassland or desert with a few trees or utility poles. Photo: Dick Dickinson/Audubon Photography Awards, Adult. Eggs. When it's cold, red-tailed hawks eat more than they do in warm weather, helping conserve body heat. Also hunts by flying over fields, watching for prey below. Incubation is by both parents, 28-35 days. Both the male and female help with nest building and incubation of two to three eggs, which lasts up to 32 days. The Red-tailed Hawk has a thrilling, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound. Does most hunting by watching from a high perch, then swooping down to capture prey in its talons. Are the Trump Administration's Environmental Rollbacks Built to Last? They typically move about 20 to 40 miles per hour. Christopher Ciccone/Audubon Photography Awards. Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from Illustration © David Allen Sibley.