(Buteo jamaicensis)

Red-tailed Hawks are the largest and most powerful of our eastern Buteos. Males are usually smaller than females. They perch in conspicuous places such as dead trees and utility poles. At times when there are strong winds they are able to kite, hang motionless in mid-air, while hunting.

Red tails mate for life. Their nests are constructed of coarse sticks thrown together, 30 to 40 feet above ground in the crotch of a large tree. The nest is lined with inner bark strips, evergreen sprigs and green leaves. The pair usually only produces one brood per year of two to four dull white eggs. The young are blind, downy and helpless when hatched. Young birdshatch several days apart, asynchronously.

Red tails feed mainly on mice, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, insects, snakes and some carrion.

Their spring migration is during March, April and May while autumn migration is in September through December and travel south as far as Panama. Red tails are the most widely distributed, most universally common, and best known of all our hawks. Many adults remain in their territory throughout the year. The Eastern population has been in a decline due to early bounty hunting, human persecution, habitat loss and some egg-shell thinning from hard pesticides in their food chain.

Common enemies today include great horned owls, raccoons and humans.

Friends With Feathers has a mature male Red-tailed Hawk who was adopted in 2004. He had somehow injured his left foot -- maybe it was injured by a gray squirrel or frozen during a winter cold spell. His limited hunting success forced him to scavenge along highways where he was hit by several vehicles. His vehicle injuries include blindness in his right eye.

In 2007, a second male Red-tailed Hawk joined Friends With Feathers. His date of birth is 2006. Somehow he injured his right wing, which limited his flight. He seems very calm and will start giving educational programs in the fall 2007.